The Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Tolulope Odunaiya, yesterday said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the implementation of a health insurance scheme for retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).
Odunaiya announced this during the directorate’s 2025 budget performance presentation before the House of Representatives Committee on Pensions.
The Executive Secretary said the agency had seamlessly implemented the 28 per cent pension increment approved by the Federal Government in 2024 for the pensioners and settled the 35 months of pension arrears for NITEL/MTEL retirees.
She told the lawmakers that even though it had concluded the payment of arrears to over 155,000 pensioners, it was facing eviction from its Maitama office and struggling with vendor payments.
Odunaiya explained that out of about N128.9 billion appropriated for pensions this year, N62.7 billion was released in June, while N56.6 billion had been utilised.
According to her, no allocation was made for gratuities in the current year due to an oversight.
The PTAD chief stated that despite the prevailing situation, the agency continued to meet its pension obligations and was working with the Federal Government to address unfunded liabilities and other challenges.
She also announced that N25 billion was appropriated for unfunded pension liabilities in 2025, with N13 billion released and N8.7 billion so far utilised.
“On personnel expenditure, N2.4 billion was appropriated for 2025, of which N1.09 billion has been released and fully utilised. Overhead costs recorded N1.49 billion in appropriations, with N434 million released and N334 million expended by mid-year. Capital expenditure of N820 million has yet to be implemented due to delays arising from the bottom-up cash flow management policy and the extension of the 2024 capital budget to December 2025,” she said.
, Tolulope Odunaiya, yesterday said President Bola Ahm...){kind=link}