The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has unveiled the “I Am Alive’’ online confirmation solution to ease pensioners’ stress.
The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, unveiling the solution in Abuja on Friday, said PTAD had kept to its promise that the era of bringing out aged pensioners for field verification was over.
Ejikeme said that the solution, which is an online application, was designed to enable pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) easily confirm their aliveness from the comfort of their homes using either a smartphone or a computer system.
She said that the pilot phase was largely successful as the teething challenges were identified and resolved, adding that PTAD was ready to fully roll-out the I Am Alive Confirmation (IAAC) solution to the pensioners.
“We believe this is a way forward as far as validation of the aliveness of our pensioners is concerned.
“We wish to use this opportunity to assure our esteemed pensioners that the “I Am Alive” confirmation solution has been designed with their utmost welfare in mind, leveraging on accuracy, reliability, user -friendliness and convenience,” Ejikeme said.
She said that the IAAC solution was available to all PTAD verified pensioners across the four Pension Departments, (Police Pensioners, Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pensioners, Civil Service Pensioners and Parastatals Pensioners).
According to Ejikeme the platform “is simple and easy to use” and the directorate has provided a short video for instructions.
“The application can be accessed using a smart mobile phone, a desktop or any computer device that has Internet access.
“The journey to test and provide this solution has taken PTAD over 18 months, they have been challenging months that stretched us as an organisation, as we worked to ensure that our service ethos of “Empathy” for our pensioners’ welfare is delivered.
“We are proud of our efforts and are hopeful that the solution will have a positive impact on our DBS pensioners as well as PTAD and the government in general,” Ejikeme said.
She said that the benefits of the IAAC solution to the DBS pensioners and the Federal Government were huge.
“Government funding of pensions will be accurately estimated as deceased pensioners are immediately removed from the payroll, funding for field verification will be completely eliminated
“Pensioners are no longer required to travel long distances with the attendant stress and inconvenience to attend verification exercises and the result of the IAAC solution is received via SMS to the phone of the pensioner,” the executive secretary said.
Ejikeme said that a six-month grace period had been given to the four departments and their pensioners to complete their IAAC solution.
She assured stakeholders that nobody could tamper with pensioners’ pension payment through the “I Am Alive” platform.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in her remarks encouraged all the pensioners to enrol to the solution.
Ahmed represented by the Director, Human Resources in the Ministry, Mrs Omobola Olushola- Dada, commended the Directorate for unveiling the online platform for verification of pensioners.
Dr Stephen Fatusin, the Chairman, Southwest Zonal Congress of Pensioners, Federal College of Education (FCE) Section, commended the Directorate for all its efforts.
The pilot scheme of the “I AM ALIVE’’ online portal was inaugurated in October 2021 with 50,000 pensioners.
