The Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee (ICPC) and the Pension Transitional Association Directorate (PTAD) have agreed to signal a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combat fraud and different corrupt practices in pension administration in Nigeria.
The announcement was made on Thursday on the ICPC headquarters in Abuja throughout a courtesy go to by PTAD’s Govt Secretary, Ms. Tolulope Abiodun Odunaiya, to the ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN.
The plight of Nigerian pensioners, lots of whom have spent a long time serving the nation, stays one of many nation’s most painful realities.
Numerous retirees, now of their twilight years, are pressured to combat for the entitlements owed to them, usually met with partitions of paperwork and corruption.
Dr. Aliyu famous that the challenges pensioners face and the welfare of retirees are deeply private to him.
“I need to thank the Govt Secretary and her staff for this necessary go to. The problem of pensions may be very near my coronary heart, significantly due to the hardship our senior residents endure simply to obtain their entitlements,” he stated.
He additionally careworn the pressing want for joint motion between each businesses to combat fraud within the system.
“There’s a clear want for this MoU to allow each organisations to collectively fight fraudulent actions and guarantee a extra environment friendly pension administration.”
Corruption past PTAD
Whereas Dr. Aliyu acknowledged PTAD’s position in managing pensions beneath the Outlined Profit Scheme (DBS), he identified that the issue of corruption extends far past PTAD itself.
He famous that different pension schemes, together with the Contributory Pension Scheme, are additionally suffering from manipulation and mismanagement.
To bridge the service hole for retirees throughout the nation, the ICPC Chairman urged PTAD to develop its operational footprint:
- He referred to as on PTAD to determine workplaces in all states of the federation, to deliver companies nearer to pensioners, and to make sure the sleek implementation of the MoU.
Extended investigations and delays in prosecution
PTAD Govt Secretary, Ms. Odunaiya, expressed her gratitude to ICPC for its readiness to work collectively, acknowledging the vital position the Fee performs in pension reform.
“Our efforts have considerably decreased the hardship confronted by pensioners. Nonetheless, we’re more and more challenged by fraudsters who goal weak retirees.
We additionally face setbacks comparable to extended investigations and delays in prosecution, which hamper our capability to discourage pension-related crimes successfully,” Odunaiya stated.
Odunaiya additionally shared PTAD’s reform journey over the previous 12 years, She famous that in this, pension processes have been modernized, together with verification, profit computation, cost, and criticism decision.
Each establishments agreed that the proposed MoU will type a strong framework for enhanced cooperation, permitting for real-time info sharing, coordinated investigations, and stronger deterrence towards pension fraud.
