Business
Pension Manager Advises Workers To Update Data
A pension manager in the Ministry of Water Resources, Mr Michael Katbong has advised civil servants to furnish their pension fund administrators with updated details of their service.
This, he said, would guarantee smooth pension retrieval.
Katbong, who gave the advice in an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said effective monitoring of pension procedures would curtail the trauma of pensioners.
“The new one is a good policy if things move the way they set it.
“The basic policy there is that if the contributors will monitor the PFA and give them the acquired data, that they need especially if you have an increment in your salary, if you are promoted, try and meet your PFA and give them those information.
“They will be updating you regularly at the end of your exit, you have no problem but in some cases, you discover that the contributors did not care whether these PFAs exist, they didn’t go to them and check what the problem is.
“Some people may complain that for three months now I have not seen my data, what is my own contribution, the thing is either going up or going down.
“But I blame that thing to the civil servants themselves because you need to know where they are, where are they located and go and formalise your documents with them, when those things are intact, it’s the best policy.”
He expressed concern over the difficulties civil servants are going through after service due to negligence, misinformation and inadequate preparation.
He, therefore, advised civil servants to maintain a healthy lifestyle during and after service in order to live longer and enjoy their benefits.
“The lifestyle of a pensioner is you try to monitor the type of life you live, most cases in the civil service life, everybody thinks that unless you reach up before you start having a good life, no you plan it, even if N5 is your salary, if you plan it well, you live better.
“But the major problem with Nigerian civil servants is that they don’t care.
“If you are at the point of entry, that is the point you have to plan, how long will I live in the service and at the end what will I do.
“Once you have those things within you as a civil servant, in fact your exit will not be a problem.
“But most cases we don’t take cognisance of those things that we need to do when we are in the service so if we plan our service very well, even if how much less is your salary, if you plan it very well, you will utilise it well.”