A total of 1,217 retirees have so far received the sum of N8billion as their retirement benefits from the Federal Capital Territory Area Council Staff Pension Board.
The amount is said to have been disbursed over a period of six years- from 2016 till date despite some of the challenges faced in processing retirement benefits.
The board saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that the FCT Area Councils staff and Local Education Authority, LEA, teachers have seamless pension administration, revealed it paid a total sum of N896 million as death benefit of those who died within the same period.
Director of the board, Dr. Nanzing Nden, who made this disclosure during an interview with newsmen in Abuja, said for this year, the Board disbursed N754 million as pension to 194 retirees.
Nden, added that within the same period, the board has been able to pay 1.8 billion Naira as monthly pension to one million and forty-four retirees under the old scheme.
Highlighting some of the things that the board had done over the last six years, the Director said with the support of the Minister and the Permanent, the Board was able to ensure that it implemented the pension management system, which includes the website, all the media sites, a workflow system that is working, and Information Technology Centre which keeps all its records.
“Over the five or six years we have been here, we have been able to do a few things; the implementation of the system, where we gave a robust system of implementation or computation of accrual rights benefits to all our staff. Also, we have a document management that ensures all our files are digitalised, and in the course of our effort in this direction, the FCT Administration itself has come to copy what we are doing here.
“Also, we have been able to maintain a group life assurance policy to ensure that all those who died during this period were paid their insurance benefit. We also have paid 896 million naira as death benefit of those who died the same period, in lieu of their death.
“Every year, we have been able to implement pension operational management system retreat , where we bring all management and stakeholders to brainstorm on our reports and critique us and advise us on the way forward.
“Through this, we have been able to launch our servingcom charter as the first FCT agency to do so, and no other agency has been able to do. So we are the only agency in the FCT that has a charter. Also, we have been able to launch our anti corruption transparency guide, and we are the only agency in the FCT to do such, so this year, we intend lo launch our operation manual, which will also be the first for the FCT.
“This year, we were nominated as the finalist at the World Pension Summit, which held in Netherlands, due to the implementation of efficient strategies for innovations in pensions.
“We have our funding from essentially from the federal government, the FCT Administration and our major stakeholders- the Area Councils. The Pension fund is locked up with the Central Bank of Nigeria, it is not part of the budgetary system. It is a fund that is put together by the FCT Administration, Area Councils and Federal Government. While the Area Councils contribute 15percent, FCT Administration contribute 2.5percent and Federal Government contribute 5percent to the retirement bond savings account with the CBN”, he stressed.