By Mohammed Yangida
Lafia
Defined Benefit Scheme and the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) have verified no fewer than 600 pensioners in Nasarawa state as part of the last phase of the exercise in the North-central zone.
The exercise taking place simultaneously in Niger, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Nasarawa state is expected to capture t least 9,100 pensioners according to what PTAD disclosed yesterday in Lafia.
Meanwhile, a cross-section of the pensioners in the state has expressed satisfaction with the verification exercise that had participants comprising federal and state civil service pensioners.
A federal pensioner, Mr. Salihu Sule, said the exercise was easy compared to previous verifications, adding that he spent less than 30 minutes to be verified, and that the arrangement put in place by PTAD made the process faster.
Also, a former Permanent Secretary in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Dahiru, expressed joy that the exercise went smoothly and called for the upward review of pensions and arrears following the verification of their documents in line with current economic realities.
Another pensioner, Dr Ayuba Agwadu, a first class traditional ruler, commended PTAD for the meticulous exercise, saying “this would ensure that dubious elements parading as pensioners would be checked.”
On her part, Mrs. Rebecca Swende described the exercise as “interesting and orderly” compared to previous ones.
