Omobola Tolu-Kusimo May 7, 2024

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) yesterday cut off 51,000 fake pensioners uncovered in the Federal Civil Service, Parastatals, Police, Customs, Immigration and Prisons found on its payroll fraudulently receiving pension for decades, The Nation has learnt.

The 51,000 fake pensioners represent about 23 per cent of 226,693 pensioners on PTAD pension payroll as at March 2024. Out of the 51,000 fake pensioners, 43,000 were uncovered in the Civil Service.

This is coming following the notification in February 2024 to all pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) by PTAD that pensioners who fail to confirm their ‘aliveness’ by March 31, 2024 will be eliminated from the pension payroll.

PTAD however assured that affected pensioners that are able to confirm their ‘aliveness’ after now, will be automatically restored back to pension payroll.

Top sources in the ministry of finance, PTAD and executive in the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) however reveal that PTAD which has been working towards eliminating the fake pensioners for about a year now has been in the firing line by some corrupt people especially in the civil service for daring to eliminate the padded names on its payroll.