Reps c’ttee chair lauds PTAD verification exercise in Kano

By Ene Osang

Abuja

The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Pensions, Hassan Shekarau, has appraised the ongoing verification of the NITEL/Mtel pensioners by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) in Kano state.
In a statement issued yesterday by PTAD management, Shekarau made the commendation when he visited the centre where the pensioners from adjoining states in the North-west gathered for the exercise.
The statement added that Shekarau’s visit was part of oversight functions by the committee, to interact with the pensioners and personnel of the agency with the aim to get a concrete that the process was in order.
“Honourable Shekarau said he was pleased with the exercise and assured that the House will support the Directorate to hasten budgetary process for funds to be released to pay the pensioners their entitlements,” the statement read in part.
Executive Secretary of PTAD, Barrister Sharon Ikeazor, also monitored the exercise to ensure proper review of the pensioners’ documents, scanning and biometric capture that would enable computation of their entitlements.
The North-west zonal chairman of NITEL Pensioners Association, Mr. Samuel Johnson, an engineer, expressed gratitude to the federal government for approving their verification, saying they had waited for this many years since retirement.
The chairman and coordinator of the Association’s Kano Territory, Mohammed Ishaq, also said their hopes had been restored towards receiving the retirement benefits.
Another pensioner, Akomoh Francis, who came from Gusau in Zamfara state where he had lived and worked for over 30 years, said he was “so pleased to have been verified,” having been assured of a thorough exercise.
The Kano centre which opened on Monday like those in Gombe and Abuja, and recorded huge turnout of pensioners with no fewer than 1, 000 of them verified already.

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