Godson Ukpevo
Director Civil Service Pension Department, PTAD
Emergence of PTAD
●PTAD is a child of necessity
●It rose from the ashes of the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), otherwise called the ‘old pension scheme’
●The management of the old scheme had fallen into disrepute - allegations of misappropriation of pension funds, maltreatment of pensioners and general malfeasance pervaded the air.
●The public outcry led to widely publicized public hearings and criminal proceedings against suspected pension thieves.
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Emergence of PTAD
●Against this background, PTAD was established in August 2013 as an independent agency to consolidate and manage pensions under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) for pensioners who did not transit into the contributory scheme introduced in 2004.
●This was in compliance with the provisions of section 30 sub-section (2) (a) of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and as restated in section 42(1) of the amended act of 2014.
Emergence of PTAD
●The 2014 Pension Act provides for PTAD to consolidate the old pension offices:
●Civil Service Pension
●Police Pension
●Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension
●Pension Boards of Trustees of all federally funded parastatals
●Military Pension and Security Agencies Pension were however excluded
●Expectedly, PTAD inherited very complex pension schemes which were plagued with mismanagement and dearth of quality and reliable database
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PTAD’s Mandate
●Make budgetary estimates for existing pensioners and officers exempted from the contributory scheme as highlighted under section 5(1)(b) of the 2014 act
●Prepare and submit monthly payroll of pensioners to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for direct payment from the budgetary allocation maintained with the Central Bank of Nigeria to pensioners’ bank accounts
●Issue payment instructions to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation
●Maintain a comprehensive database of pensioners under their respective jurisdiction
PTAD’s Mandate
●Ascertain deficits in pension payments, if any, to existing pensioners or the categories of officers exempted under section 5(1)(b) of the Act, carry out such other functions aimed at ensuring the welfare of pensioners as the Commission may, from time to time, direct; and
●Render monthly returns to the Commission on existing staff, pensioners, deceased pensioners, details of next of kin of deceased pensioners and on any other issue as may be required by the Commission, from time to time.
Corporate Structure
●PTAD reports to the Minister of Finance and is regulated by the National Pension Commission.
●The PRA Act of 2014 directs that the agency be set up along 7 departmental lines:
oCivil Service Pension
oPolice Pension
oCustoms, Immigration and Prisons Pension
oParastatals and Treasury Funded Pensions
oPensioner Support Services
oInformation Technology
oCorporate Services
Significant Improvement in Pension Payment & Payroll Management
●Prompt and regular payment of pensions to 150,116 pensioners using GIFMIS – before the 24th of every month
●Restoration of monthly pension to genuine pensioners removed from the payroll
●Commenced monthly payment of the 33% pension increase in October 2014. 2014 arrears paid in December
●Removal of failed payments
●Removal of duplicate and corporate names
●Monthly payment of the 33% pension increase in October 2014. (All 2014 arrears were paid by December)
Results So Far
●Stronger collaboration with the banks – Timely information now on dead pensioners
●Over 15,000 non existent pensioners removed from the payroll
Seamless Consolidation
● Pension offices of the Civil Service, Police, Paramilitary Services and Pension Departments/ Boards of Trustees (BOTs) of federally funded Parastatals now managed from one office complex
●Befitting office space and home for pensioners
●Decrepit and abandoned state offices being renovated
●Establishment of a robust complaints resolution software
Results So Far
Deployment of Modern Technology in Pension Management
●Investment in IT infrastructure and systems for smooth and secured operations
●Design and implementation of customized biometric verification application to securely collect and store pensioner data
●Over 65000 inherited complaints now arranged and captured in a database
●On going automation of pension computation
●Launching of digital call center
Results So Far
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Commencement of Nationwide Biometric Capture and Verification of Pensioners
•Field verification of 18,332 police pensioners already concluded
•Interim report indicates existence of over 3,000 ghost pensioners
•Plans afoot for verification of civil service pensioners
Building of Institutional Structures
●Recruitment of PTAD staff
●Return of borrowed staff of the old pension offices
●On going comprehensive staff induction and training
●Development of operational policies
●Institution of performance driven culture with clear job definitions and KPIs for the staff
Results So Far
Pensioner Care and Welfare
•Prior to PTAD, pensioners endured untold hardship in the process of getting answers to their pension related queries and verifying their eligibility and benefits.
•PTAD has instituted a new orientation to pensioner welfare; that of care and empathy.
•All through the verification exercises, PTAD provides conducive seating areas, food and water, first aid and medical support to sick and weak pensioners
•Every pensioner is warmly received and treated with respect in PTAD’s walk-in reception area
•Integration of the complaints management system into all pension departments’ systems for complaint tracking and resolution
●Little wonder pensioners who have had contact with PTAD have continued to give testimonies of the positive changes
Results So Far
Stronger Stakeholder Management
●Significant improvement in relationship with key stakeholders such as the supervisory and regulatory authorities and the Unions
●Stronger collaboration with EFCC, ICPC and the Police in tackling fraud
Results So Far
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•Complaints Management System
•Automatic Call Distribution
•Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
•Computerized Telephony Integration
•Call Recording
PTAD call centre
PTAD’s call centre was officially launched by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy/Federal Minister of Finance on 6th February, 2015 .The call centre has the following functionalities:
Key Challenges
●Strong resistance to change and subtle campaign for return to the old discredited order
●Absence of comprehensive database from the old pension offices
●Funding sustainability for monthly pension and pensioner verification exercise in the face of dwindling oil revenues
●Lack of funding for inherited liabilities – About N213.7bn by end of 2014.
oArrears of 33% pension increase
oDeath Benefits – More than 10,000 cases inherited
oBenefits of State Pensioners with Federal Share – Over 13,000 pensioners
●Trapped funds with underwriters – PBOTs inability to access about N7bn with underwriters has hampered their pension payments
●Non rendition of database returns by some of the PBOTs
●Difficulties in taking possession of some inherited assets
Credible and Comprehensive database:
●All pensioner data fields (Biometric, documentation, photo imaging, complaints)are captured and can be centrally accessed
●Automated benefit re-computation for all pensioners.
●Enhanced database security
Prospects
Stronger stakeholder engagement – Particularly with the Ministry of Finance, PENCOM, Budget office and the pension unions. The is to ensure:
●Better communication channels
●Accuracy and timeliness of information being communicated
●Proactive engagement and resolution of sector issues through policy articulation
●Regular and timely updates to pensioners on key developments
Prospects
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Conclusion
•PTAD is clearly transforming public sector pension administration
•This is being done with the collective input and strong support of all stakeholders and we say a big thank you to them all
•Though the dip in government revenues poses a great challenge to our ability to pay pensions as at when due, we are hopeful that the incoming government will be committed to pension payment.
•On our part we remain focused on:
●Strengthening the institutional structures of PTAD
●Building a sustainable operation
●Stronger stakeholder collaboration
●Enforcement of ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FRAUD.
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