Millitary Pension Board Warns Against Unverified Retirees

      The Nigerian Military Pensions Board has warned its retirees to ensure they were verified, else they would face delistment from the data of the military, thus barring them from getting their pensions as at when due.

The board also said that it had started a process towards digitalising its records in order to ensure that all its retired and discharged personnel were properly accounted for.

The Chairman, Military Pension Board, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Rabiu Dabo,  said the digitilisation of its data bank was the essence of the verification exercise of military pensioners, adding that in the process, the bio-metric data of every pensioners would be taken and those who were not able to do this would be delisted from the pension list.

Speaking during a visit to military pension verification centres in Lagos, he said measures had been taken to ensure that military pensioners did not die while being verified.
He said that to ensure smooth running of the programme, three centres had been opened in Lagos, as against one centre in previous verification exercise.

He also said that all genuine military pensioners would have their documents checked and the biometric data taken and stored to ensure smooth payment of their pension, adding that persons who served below the required number of years were not eligible for pension, but their registration would be carried out, in case there was a change of policy in future.

He said, “This verification exercise is special because we are working to ensure they get their biometric data capture, if they do not get their biometric data capture, then it is assumed they do not exist and their pension would not be paid.”

He lamented that retirees who disengaged from the military before the number of years for military personnel to be pensionable was reviewed, may not be eligible for pension if they did not serve up to the required 15 years then.

Dabo also said those who disengaged after serving 13 and half years before 1987 were not eligible for pension but personnel who served up to 10 years after 1987 when the former president  Ibrahim Babangida reduced the pensionable years from 15 to 10 were eligible for pension.