The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), under the able leadership of the Executive Secretary, Ms Tolulope Odunaiya, has worked efficiently for the betterment of the pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).
Ms Odunaiya, was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in November 2024, to take over the management of the pensions of all Federal Government pensioners who did not transit to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The Directorate inherited four categories of pensioners that were hitherto managed by different Pension Offices, Board of Trustees and Insurance Underwriters.
These include Police Pensioners, Customs, Immigration and Prisons (now Correctional Services) Pensioners, Civil Service Pensioners and Pensioners of Treasury funded Parastatals of the Federal Government.
By law, PTAD is expected to take care of this group of Federal Government pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme, until the last pensioner dies, and is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance and regulated by the National Pension Commission(PenCom).
Since her assumption of office on November 18,2024, following the sack of the former Executive Secretary, Dr. Chioma Nnenna Ejikeme, who served from August 2019 to November 2024, Ms Odunaiya and her team have brought succor to the pensioners.
For instance, she has maintained the payment of monthly pension to all eligible pensioners/Next of Kins (NoKs) on the pension payroll as has been the tradition since DBS’ take-over in 2014 to date.
Again, a total of NGN1,002 trillion has so far been paid as monthly pension to an average of 212,385 pensioners from the time of DBS’ take-over in 2015 to October 2025.
PTAD has also designed and developed a state-of-the-art Data Centre, equipped with modern equipment and relevant technical competency, that have been integrated into an optimal platform for deployment of top-quality information technology services to aid the Directorate in achieving its mandate.
It has created a comprehensive, integrated database of eligible pensioners with digitized career records, biometric/pictorial recordsand bank account details, following the successful completion of nationwide physical verification of eligible pensioners and Next of Kins across the four pension operational departments, and covering the six geopolitical zones and the FCT, between 2014 to 2019.
Another milestone progress so far made was the design and Implementation of Mobile Verification Services through the deployment of its Mobile Verification Application to verify eligible and qualified pensioners who are aged,infirm, sick or physically challenged and thus unable to participate in the open-field verification exercise.
It also designed Pension Benefit Computation Application that automatically uploads relevant data from the pensioner verification database to ensure consistently accurate and complete determination of pensioner benefits.
The Directorate designed and Developed a Complaints Resolution Management Portal and a Call Centre Management Solution (knownas CC-Agent) to support efficient customer (pensioner) relationship management,complaints tracking and resolution.
It also designed anddeveloped a Payroll Manager, to accurately and seamlessly determine the monthly pension due to every eligible pensioner and consolidate into a payroll report for eventual payment.
PTAD designed and developed a Pensioner I am Alive Confirmation Solution, through the creative use of technology and service excellence. This innovative solution provides a web-based, simple, safe and easy platform for Pensioners to confirm their aliveness at regular intervals within the comfort of their residences and neighborhoods.
Across the four pension operational departments, the Directorate inherited an estimated NGN304 Billion of unfunded pension liabilities due to pensioners and has, through the unwavering support and commitment of successive Federal Government administration, successfully reduced this to about NGN103.5 Billion as at September 2025.
The Directorate has secured Presidential approval for the provision of NHIA-managed healthcare access for all DBS pensioners on the Directorate’s payroll. It also secured Presidential approval for the policy for harmonisation of pension forall eligible DBS pensioners under the Directorate’s management, such that all pensioners enjoying pensions on salary structures existing at retirement would be placed on ultimate salary structure preceding the commencement of the contributory scheme.
It secured Presidential approval for emergency budgetary funding of NGN45 billion for implementation of N32k, 10.66% and 12.95% pension increment for all eligible pensioners on the payroll It also secured Presidential approval for the liquidation of NGN28.4 billion unfundedpension liability arrears of 35 months owed to pensioners of NITEL/MTEL through the 2026 Appropriation budget.
Finally, it secured Presidential approval for the liquidation of NGN39.2 billion of unfunded pension liability arrears owed toParastatals pensioners and covering the period from August 2015to July 2023.
Prior to the establishment of PTAD and the commencement of its operations in August 2013, following the 2004 Pension Reforms, the DBS administration under the old pension offices faced overwhelming challenges.
These challenges were an accumulation of a number of negative incidents and inactions on the part ofthe old Pension offices and Government that resulted in the absence of acomprehensive database of pensioners (even though efforts had been made overthe years by successive government administrations to create one), reports ofpoor funding of pension liabilities, ghost beneficiaries, allegations ofpervasive fraud, administrative bottlenecks in accessing pension services, neglectof pensioners’ welfare, as well as poor delivery of service to pensioners. Pension entitlements were manually computed giving room for manipulations anderrors.
For many years, these challenges led to the loss of huge government funds and ultimatelydenied many Pensioners and Next-of-Kin (NoK) of deceased pensioners their due pension benefits for decades. For some unfortunate pensioners the pursuit of the payment of their entitlements cost them their lives.
For instance, there were as many as fifty-five thousand (55,000) pension complaints inherited from the Office of the Head of Civil Service many of which were related to overthirty thousand (30,000) qualified pensioners that were not on the pension payroll at the time that PTAD took over DBS pension management.
There were over 10,000 Death case files with benefit claims. There is certainly no doubt that it was the accumulation of these “negatives” and the fact that the scheme as it were, was no longer financially sustainable, that the Federal Government initiated the extensive reforms of the industry that ultimately led to the promulgation of the original Pension Reform Act of 2004.
The Directorate attributed the achievements so far made to its stance on zero tolerance for pension fraud (bearing in mind the myriad of fraud related issues that hadbedeviled pension administration in the past).
One of the most important steps taken by PTAD in this regard was the establishment of an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) in 2016 to expedite the fight against corruption. Activities such as fraud alerts to pensioners, sensitization programs for sister agencies, hotlines for reporting fraud were introduced with the aim of establishing trust between the Directorate and its pensioners, and to ensure pensioners are not swindled by fraudsters.
Despite these achievements, PTAD said the absence of statutory provision for pension to be a “first line charge” has often led to slight delays in meeting due obligations for pension and arrears payment, and with consequential impact on the welfare of these senior citizens.
It listed other challenges to include absence of a defined framework for the implementation of the five-year cycle of pension increment as provided by the Constitution, and the absence of clarity on some element of the DBS especially as it relates to the limit of Federal Government obligation for the pension rights of somecategory of primary school teachers, State with Federal share (SWFS) pensioners and pensioners severed under the Federal Government Public Service Reform that was managed by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms.
It also underscored the need to clarify the obligation of the Federal, State and Local Government in the administration and funding of the pension of primary school teachers.
Looking forward, the Directorate seeks to sustain its technology capabilities and applications; the skills of its workforce which have been honed in the critical areas of biometric verification, benefits computation, payments and complaints resolutionand other operational know-how garnered over the years for improved service delivery.
It also desires to remain at the forefront along with other institutions that have significantly impacted the lives of Nigerians and will continue in its commitment to serve them.
It hopes to explore the introduction of necessary statute to make pension payment a “first line charge”, considering the vulnerability of this homogenous group.
PTAD is committed to building a pension system that upholds dignity, respect and compassion for retirees, being the values they have earned through years of dedicated service to the nation.
