Pencom Begins Verification of Prospective Retirees

The Acting Director General of the National Pension Commission (Pencom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the commission has finalised arrangement to commence the verification of prospective retirees expected to retire from the public service of the federation next year.

Already, she said that, 15 centres which cuts across the six geo-political zones of the country had been earmarked for the verification exercise and would hold between July 1 to August 2, this year across the country.

The centres are Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Gombe, Owerri, Sokoto, Enugu, Lokoja, Ibadan, Lafia and Benin.

Speaking at the pre-retirement workshop for the federal government retirees due to retire in 2020 in Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday, Dahir-Umar said, “the workshop is very important so as to enlighten the affected retirees on what they need to know on documentation requirement, payments of retirement benefits and best way to enjoy life retirement.”

Represented at the event by head of Benefit and Insurance Department of the Pencil, Alhaji Abubakar Ali, Dahir-Umar recalled that, “the objectives of the pension reform act (PRA 2014) is to ensure that every person who worked in either in the public service of the federation, federal capital territory, states and local governments or the private sector receive his retirement benefits as and when due and to establish uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for all aspects of pension administration including payment of retirement benefits to retirees amongst others”.

She said that, “the forthcoming verification exercise, therefore necessitated the need to undertake adequate sensitisation and public enlightenment in order to prepare prospective retirees on the steps to take towards a hitch free retirement life.”

While reiterating the commitment of the commission to make life worth living after retirement with payment of their benefits, Dahir-Umar advised the retirees to make useful suggestions during the pre-retirement workshop about the issues that may further help to make their retirement life more comfortable and others coming behind them.

She, therefore, thanked the retirees for their support that had helped the commission to achieve maximum results in the last 17 years.