By Nana Musa
The Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr Chioma Ejikeme has said that the Directorate is commitment to pensioners’ welfare.
Ejikeme said this during the courtesy visit on her by the executive members of Federal Universities Pensioners Association (FUPA) on her re-appointment on Thursday in Abuja.
The Executive Secretary said that her focus in the second tenure was for the consolidation and improvement of the welfare of the pensioners in accordance to the agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Ejikeme told her visitors that she was committed to consolidating the successes and achievements recorded in her first term and asked for their continued support, prayers, and advice.
She promised the association that the issues of consequential adjustment, harmonizations, health insurance, payment of arrears, and payments to ‘Next of Kin (NoK)’ of that deceased to pensioners would take center stage.
Ejikeme said: “Consequential adjustment was a novel idea at the time because it has never happened in the history of pension increments in the country but let’s look at the bigger picture.
“We had always had a one percentage increments cutting across everybody, which if we were to begin to look at it in terms of fairness and equity it wasn’t equitable.
“Like I would always say, to give that 33 per cent increment to somebody whose pension is one million naira and you also give that 33 per cent increment to somebody who’s pension is N10,000.
“We were advised to push for harmonization, because if the pensions were harmonized, everybody will get the same thing.
“Because harmonisation will have meant that if you retired on grade level 13 step 9 regardless of where you retired, salary structure that was operational, your pension will be the same as everybody else.”
She said that hrmonization was supposed to take care of the issue of consequential adjustment, not just for now but for going forward.
Ejikeme said: “So, that at every particular point in time, everybody who retired on the same grade level, same step, same salary structure, regardless of the year of retirement will be earning the same amount of money.
“We are expecting pension increment next year in accordance to the law, so I need you all to relax we are here for you.”
The president of FUPA, Chief Edwin Enyokwa commended Tinubu for the reappointment of Ejikeme.
He encouraged Ejikeme to continue with her disposition to matters affecting the welfare of pensioners, including payment of the approved palliative.
Secretary of FUPA, Dr Julius Adegbite, said that their members wanted her to keep her promise on consequential adjustment, harmonizations and health insurance.
