The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, on Sunday, said it had approved N1.3 billion for the payment of benefits and allowances of 247 Area Councils’ retirees.
The Director, FCT Area Council Pensions Board, Mr Nanzing Nden disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja.
Nden said that the amount would be used to settle pensions of area councils’ 247 retirees, including retired teachers.
“We recall that at the last briefing, I intimated you of the fact that we are going to start an advance payment system for retirees from our system.
“So, as at today, we only have 31 files that have been sent to us from the month of May to date for a total liability of N138 millions, which is outstanding.’’
The director said the board was sticking to its plan to pay its pensioners three months before their retirement date.
He said the idea was to run away from the former system, where people retired and stayed for years before getting their benefits.
Nden said that by the year 2020, the board would have perfected a vision of paying its prospective pensioners six months ahead of their retirement.
He said the board had received approval of the tenders board of the FCTA for pensioners’ files to be converted to e-files, adding that old files would be sent to FCT archives for storage.
He said going forward, the board would have the software for files or documents. (NAN)