- National Daily Newspaper

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has approved the payment of the sum of N2,253,214,569.36 billion naira as pension and gratuity payments, as well as Group Life Insurance, claims for 445 retirees, including families of some deceased officers of the FCT.

The Director, FCT Pension Department, Mr. Rotimi Ajayi, made this known during a stakeholders’ meeting with pension desk officers of the various Secretariats, Departments, and Agencies in Abuja, on Thursday.

According to him, the sum would also include the 2019 arrears benefits of the affected staff, adding that the approval is for accrued benefits to 197 staff who retired from Secretariats, Departments, and Agencies of the FCT Administration, while the other 248 persons were next of kin to the deceased.

The Director further disclosed that of the N2.25bn sum, “N964,123,713.47 was for Next of Kin of the 248 deceased officers; N587,456,832.78 for payment of accrued right benefits to 197 Retirees; while N701,634,023.11 was released as pension arrears occasioned by salary increment of the year 2019.”

Ajayi explained that the FCTA would ensure that the accrued right benefits were paid to staff who were in service before the Pension Reform Act of 2004 that birthed the Contributory Pension Scheme.

He revealed that the approval was a sequel to the payment into the beneficiary’s Retirement Savings Accounts to access the retirement benefits from their Pension Fund Administrators; adding that the payment also covered for the 2019 arrears based on salary increment.

Ajayi commended the leadership of the FCTA for the kind gesture to the senior citizens, noting that the authorities were concerned with the timely pension payments, to improve the living standards of retirees.

He assured that the FCTA will continue to prioritise the payment of pensions to upscale the well-being of the beneficiaries, while urging pension desk officers in the various SDAs and self-funded agencies, to work towards improving the staff reconciliation, which would by extension, curb the problems of a wrong pin or Pension Fund Administrators.