Minister approves N474m for pensioners in FCT

The Minister of State for the FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has approved N474 million for payment of pension to 85 retired and entitlements of deceased staff of area councils and Local Education Authorities (LEAs).

The Director of the FCT Area Council Staff Pension Board (ACSPB), Dr. Nanzing Nden, who revealed this to newsmen, said the authorities placed high emphasis on welfare and happiness of FCT pensioners.

Dr. Nden explained that the approval was “in respect of payment for Accrued Rights Benefit.”

Accrued Rights Benefit is pension entitlements of Federal Government workers before the commencement of the statutory Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004.

He said, “I want to say that there are some developments as regards FCT pension administration, especially FCT Area Council Staff Pension Board. First is the approval of the Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, of the sum of N474m in favour of 85 retiring and deceased officers of the area councils and Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in respect of the payment of

Accrued Rights Benefit.’’

He further said the board paid prospective pensioners in advance, adding that the last of such payment was N1.2bn before the Covid-19 lockdown.

Dr. Nden also revealed that the minister approved the renewal of the board’s Group Life Assurance policy for 2020/2021 for staff of area councils and LEAs. The scheme was to terminate on June 30, 2020.