By Obisue Emmanuel
Worried by the rising cases of pension fraud, the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD, has begun sensitizing pensioners and their Next of Kins on the activities of fraudsters who now target pensioners to defraud them of their hard earned pensions by texting or calling them and soliciting for money to facilitate their pension payments.
In a press release issued yesterday, the Executive Secretary, Sharon Ikeazor stressed that PTAD staff at any time, will never demand for money from any pensioner or Next of Kin before their pensions are processed and paid, adding that there are no intermediaries in the pension payments, as pensioners are paid directly through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS platform into individual pensioner’s account.
While disclosing that the Directorate embarked on the awareness campaigns to proactively protect the pensioners and to expose pranks employed by the fraudsters to swindle uninformed pensioners, she advised Pensioners to be aware of fraudsters who sometime posed as PTAD staff to defraud them.
The PTAD boss further stated that the Directorate will be sensitizing the pensioners through series of SMS to all pensioners, Newspaper adverts on National Newspapers and radio jingle on Radio stations across the six geo political zones of the country.
The awareness campaign jingle according to the statement, will also be aired on 18 Radio stations across the 6 Geo political zones of the country and FCT. The Radio stations are: Bronze FM Benin; Treasure FM Port-Harcourt; Atlantic FM Uyo; Heartland FM Owerri; Coal City FM Enugu; Unity FM Ebonyi; Bond FM, Lagos; Positive FM, Akure; Gold FM Osogbo; Kapital FM Abuja; Harmony FM Ilorin; Precious FM Lafia; Peace FM, Borno; Progress FM, Gombe; TSBS FM, Taraba; Freedom FM Kaduna; Freedom FM, Kano and Rima FM, Sokoto.
