On Thursday, the Military Pensions Board began the payment of Security Debarment Allowance to eligible military retirees and next-of-kins of deceased pensioners.

The chairman of the board, Saburi Lawal, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Lawal said the payment was sequel to the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the SDA to be paid to retirees not covered by the November 9, 2017, effective date.

He said it was also in line with the agreement reached at tripartite meetings of the defence ministry, finance ministry and representatives of the veteran associations.

According to him, the board has commenced payment of the first and second tranches covering the first and second quarters. The beneficiaries were military retirees on the board’s database who retired before November 9, 2017, deceased military retirees who were alive when the Manual of Financial Administration (MAFA) 2017 was signed in 2017 and non-pensionable retirees who retired before November 9, 2017, but were only paid gratuities.

He said the SDA was calculated as a function of 10 per cent of the retirees’ annual basic salary at the time of retirement, multiplied by the number of years served in the services.

He urged all concerned military pensioners and NOKs of the deceased military personnel to contact their banks for their entitlements. The chairman lauded Mr Buhari for his support to military retirees and the NOKs of deceased personnel.

“The board would like to thank our esteemed military retirees for their patience and understanding during the process of getting funds for the commencement of payment of this outstanding allowance. On its part, the board pledges to ensure prompt payment of subsequent tranches of this arrears once funds are made available,” he said. 

(NAN)