By Felix Durumbah
There is a good reason pensioners under Federal Capital Territory Area Council Staff Pension Board (FCT ASCPB) are the envy of their colleagues elsewhere in the country.
This is because by 16th of every month, those retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) get their pension payments while those who retired under the old Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) receive their money on the 20th—four days later. It has never failed for several years now.
These are in addition to the full payment of consequential adjustments arising from the National Minimum Wage to all pensioners.
Director, FCT ACSPB, Dr Nanzing Nden, told a team from APC NewsOnline in his office today that the FCT Administration (FCTA),led by FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello and the Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has indeed brought sunshine into the lives of pensioners.
The board has statutory mandate to treat pension entitlements of the staff of FCT’s six Area Councils and Local Education Authorties LEA9).
The team, led by Managing Director, APC NewsOnline, Dr Tom Ohikere, was in his office on a courtesy call and an interview session with the widely-acclaimed finance and pension guru.
Dr Nden, who was appointed to the position in the early years of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, acknowledged that ‘’this government’’ has done so much for pensioners by prioritizing payment and other stipulations of regulatory body, National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to put enduring smiles on the faces of retirees and their dependants.
In an atmosphere where many state governments owe pensioners and routinely kick up strident criticism for not paying the entitlements of senior citizens who gave the better part of their productive lives to serving the fathereland, the massive successes of FCT ACSPB, he noted, have spurred a pleasant rash of understudy visits and ballooning interest from many state governments keen to know how and why the board is getting it right.
The director, who just returned from representing FCT at the 2022 World Pension Awards Summit in The Hague, The Netherlands,, stressed that prudent management of available resources by his leadership was also a major driving factor for the accomplishments recorded so far.
Full interview soon…
