Military Pensions Board denies non-payment of pension to retirees
Andrew Orolua, Abuja
After a video of retired Private Ibrahim Umoru complaining of the non- payment of his pension for 16 years went viral, the Military Pension Board (MPB) said his story did not represent the actual fact of the issue.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of MPB, Flight Lieutenant Obasi Okoroafor said the attention of the board was drawn to the viral video accusing the board of abandoning payment to pensioners.
“The MPB wishes to state that the video did not represent the actual fact of the issue. It is not only untrue but baseless and misrepresentation of facts capable of misleading unsuspected members of the public.
“The MPB as a responsible organization wishes to debunk the representation of the so called video in order to set the record straight. The board on discovering the video circulating in the social media send a fact finding committee to investigate the claims with a view of finding the true state of the claims.
“The committee visited the site and discovered that the pensioner with service number 63NA/339199, Ibrahim Umoru is a pensioner from the Nigerian Army and have been receiving his monthly pension since 2003 to March 2019 without any delay.
“His gratuity has equally been paid to him after his discharge from the Nigerian Army. It was also discovered that the claimed outstanding months of arrears was as a result of his absence to verification exercise from 1982 to 2003 carried out every two years by the board.
“In this regard, the board has an established procedure of investigating the authenticity of such claims to avoid being defrauded by mischievous elements. Notwithstanding, efforts are ongoing to unravel what transpired during those period before his appearance.
“The board always welcome complains from genuine retired personnel and also advise retirees to avoid accumulating pension arrears due to not turning up for documentation or verification as its contacts are always available through various means.
“When he visited the Military Pensions Board recently to request for the claimed arrears before the video, the Chairman, Major General A.B. Adamu immediately directed the commencement of the process of investigation for the purpose of confirmation and payment.
“The MPB under the leadership of Major General Adamu wishes to assure pensioners and Nigerians in general of the determination of the board in making sure that all pensioners receive their entitlement as when due,” the statement said.
