The new Director General of Kogi State Pensions Reform Commission, ( KPRC) Hajia Mariam Ozioma Abedo has assured pensioners of the determination and commitment of the commission to end all forms of bottlenecks associated with the delay in payment of gratuities and pensions in the state.
This is as she noted that the commission has the political will and the support of the Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello to put smiles on the faces of the state Senior citizens who had contributed their active years to the service of their fatherland.
The Director General gave the assurance during the screening and confirmation of her nomination and members of the commission by the Kogi state House of Assembly, held on the floor of the Chamber on Wednesday.
The DG stated that the commission , though , it is new , has mapped out strategies to ensure quick defrayment of backlog of pensions and gratuity liabilities by gradual listing of beneficiaries on monthly basis.
Hajia Abedo hinted that those who are about to retire in the next five years will be retained in the old scheme , while those retiring after that will be captured in the new scheme adding that a department will be created to handle such matters.
She explained further that a thorough data base would be generated to capture those in the old model and those that will be in the new scheme to enhance efficiency in the processing of retirees informations.
According to her ”We have efficient Information Technology personnel that will handle that , so we dont have problem with accurate staff data and with the support of the governor we will deliver on our mandate.” She assured.
The pension boss said the new pension reform commission was a fall out of the 2008 kogi Pension act which could not be implemented until now because a commission was not constituted
She assured of putting a model in place where backlog of pensions and gratuities are settled within the available resources which could be 50%, or 25% which could be spread over several months.
She called on all pensioners to give her commission maximum cooperation to serve them , adding that the mandate of the commission is to ensure that all pensioners are treated with dignity.