PTAD DG: Pension cabal at work, group alleges

The suspension of the Director General of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD, Mrs Nellie Mayshak, has been alleged to be the handiwork of a cabal in the pension administration sector that has always thwarted every effort by government to sanitise the industry.

A pension advocacy group, Pensioners Rights Protection Advocacy, PRPA, which frowned at the manner the DG was suspended, has called for a thorough investigation of the allegations against her and her reinstatement if found to be above board.

Revelations by insiders in the agency revealed that the suspension of the DG, who was reputed for the setting up of the organisation, was done under premeditated circumstances.

Mayshak, whose suspension was announced by the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, for alleged administrative infractions and the need to look into the books of the agency, has had her credibility torn into shreds since the announcement.

Various hues of stories have regaled the media, ranging from alleged N60 million monthly salary, alleged multi-billion naira fraud and running the agency as a sole administrator without a board.

However, the PRPA, has faulted the suspension, insisting that her suspension was tantamount to calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

In a statement released at the weekend in Abuja, the Executive Director of the PRPA, Mr Sule Adams, said contrary to the alleged N60 million monthly salary, the DG earns a consolidated salary of N43 million naira per annum, which is about the least in the public financial sector and other related agencies like CBN, NNPC, PTDF,  PPPRA, PENCOM  amongst others.

The salary structure of PTAD is not a creation of any individual or the agency itself but that of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, the group said.

Read also: Finance Ministry confirms suspension of PTAD boss

The group further argued that the allegation of multi-billion naira fraud is spurious and unfounded because every payment and monthly payroll of pensioners are submitted to the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, including rendering of monthly returns to the Pension Commission,  PENCOM.

“I and my group are beneficiaries of this new arrangement and we can say that we are better off than we were in the past”.

“The suspension of Mrs Nellie Mayshak came to us as a rude shock, not because she is above such action but because we find the process leading to it as gravely flawed and undeserving of a Nigerian who had worked hard since the establishment of PTAD to put smiles on the faces of Nigerian pensioners.

“Is the minister and the nation aware that PTAD has made savings of N7 billion by blocking over 5000 parastatals and agencies’ ghost pensioners in the last five months?

“Is the minister equally briefed that PTAD has handed over 121 pension fraudsters to the ICPC for investigation in the last one year?

“It is curious that the Minister of Finance would just hurriedly suspend her indefinitely without first subjecting such allegations to serious scrutiny”, the group stated.

 

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