The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) says the federal government is clearing debts it owed pensioners and has completed paying the arrears of the consequential adjustment to pensioners under the three operational departments of the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

Gbenga Ajayi, PTAD’s spokesman, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

The statement explained that PTAD had completed the payment of arrears arising from the consequential adjustment to pensions to three out of the four operational departments in the directorate.

It noted that the payment followed the presidential approval for a consequential adjustment to retirees’ pension under the DBS due to the increase in the minimum wage in 2019.

The statement also mentioned that PTAD commenced payment of the pension increment in May 2021, with an accrued arrears of 24 months.

PTAD said the government paid civil service pensioners nine months out of the 24 months’ arrears. It paid parastatals, police, customs, immigration, and prisons pensioners 12 months’ arrears in May.

In July 2021, PTAD paid an additional nine months of the consequential adjustment arrears occasioned by the minimum wage increase of 2019 to Civil Service Pension Department Pensioners and six months of the same arrears to parastatals, police, customs, immigration, and prisons department pensioners.

This brought the arrears paid so far to 18 out of the 24 months’ arrears of the pension increment.

(NAN)