The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has strongly advised government against advancing any further privatisation exercise that does not admit workers pension in the programme.
This was the opinion shared by the Directorate at a training programme for pension reporters in Lagos February month end where various directors briefed the press on the workings of the Directorate that started operation in 2013.
Leading the opinion was the director, parastatals pension department, Mr Kabiru Yusuf, who represented the Executive Secretary Dr. Chioma Ejikeme where training became a platform to place the approach the Directorate employed to move from mere excel sheet of defined benefit pensioners to a techie savvy Directorate.
The Directorate which said it has largely with proofs paid outstanding benefits dating back in some cases two decades said those affected by the privatisation could have been avoided if the pension of the workers in the privatised companies were tied to the talks.
PTAD said what happened was that the investors acquired the assets and excluded the liabilities. What happened they recalled, was that the assets were transferred to the current investors while the pension benefits of workers in the defunct state owned organisations its liabilities, were to betaken later.