PTAD: Pension Harmonisation Reforms to Advance Equity

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has announced that its Defined Benefit Scheme Pension Harmonisation reform is designed to advance and enhance pension payment equity across Nigeria. This initiative is described as a landmark reform aimed at restoring fairness, improving retiree welfare, and strengthening confidence in the administration of the country's legacy pension system.

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implementation of the Defined Benefit Scheme Pension Harmonisation was a reform meant to advance and enhance pension payment equity in the country.

According to Tolulope Abiodun Odunaiya, the Executive Secretary/CEO of PTAD, the harmonisation exercise was approved under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda. It represents one of the most significant policy interventions in the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) since PTAD was established in 2013 to manage pensions under the old federal pension arrangement.

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the initiative was a landmark reform designed to restore fairness, improve retirees’ welfare and strengthen confidence in the administration of the country’s legacy pension system.

Unlike previous periodic pension increases that applied a percentage raise to existing benefits, pension harmonisation will re-compute pensions. This recalculation will use the latest approved salary structures that were in place before the Defined Benefit Scheme closed. The objective is to ensure that retirees who held similar positions and served comparable years receive equitable pension benefits, irrespective of their retirement dates.

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pension harmonisation would go further by re-computing pensions using the latest approved salary structures that existed before the closure of the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

The initiative addresses long-standing agitations by pensioners over historical disparities in pension computations. PTAD's harmonisation program aims to resolve these challenges by restoring parity within the pension system, providing a more just and equitable outcome for all retirees.

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The objective, he noted, was to ensure that retirees who held similar positions and rendered comparable years of service received equitable pension benefits regardless of their retirement dates.