General
We Pay N16b Monthly To Pensioners—PTAD Boss
By Dipo Olowookere
Acting Director General/Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Mr Murtala Musa Oluwatoyin, has disclosed that about N16 billion is paid monthly as pension.
The PTAD boss disclosed this and others in a recent interview. Excerpts:
PTAD’s Data Mess
Before I took over, we had a lot of issues. In fact, I have the personal experience of my uncle who applied for over two years and they were asking him to wait for clarification but when I took over and based on that experience, I found out that the problem is that of records. We have updated the records, we have their files and we have done so many of them. And more are still coming. As at last week, we added 178 pensioners with complaints and we paid their arrears.
Our pension liabilities keep reducing every month. Presently, we have been able to pay part of the 33 percent arrears being owed pensioners. I have paid all outstanding 33 per cent increment arrears for those in the paramilitary services from the savings we are making.
Pension Arrears
Similarly, for civil service pension, I have paid 12 months’ arrears and I am still planning to pay another 12 months very soon. For parastatals, we have been able to pay 12 months but we have issue of records with them. Before they were unbundled to us, some of the trust funds have been paying them so now we are asking for information on how much they have been paid. Once that is done, we will move ahead.
All the regular and payment of arrears we have been making are from the normal funds we receive. There have been no additional funds released to us. We make the savings from ghost manes we have been able to remove from the payroll. In one particular week, we closed about 800 different accounts in one day from various banks which we passed to ICPC for investigation. We have signed a memorandum of understanding with ICPC on pension fraud and they have promised to assist us. We are hoping that very soon we will unravel those behind the illegal accounts. It is an ongoing process however and there may be more discoveries.
BVN Has Helped
We have been using BVN to track multiple accounts. Many of such accounts are hurriedly being closed now because they realize we are on to them.
However, there are times that we remove some names because they did not appear for verification, which we later re-inserted if such people come forward and were able to prove that they were either sick or travelled and couldn’t appear for the verification exercise or because their accounts went dormant.
Police Pension
We have not been able to pay arrears of police pension. However, we have been able to establish their records and over the years we have been paying most of them. We have also captured those who were hitherto not being paid. Because most names on police pension payroll are genuine, we have not been able to make much savings from them. Even when I paid 12 months’ arrears across board, I could only manage to pay three months to police pensioners. Even then, I had to harvest from the savings I made from others to be able to pay the three months. We explained this to Police Pension Union. Right now, we have requested for additional funds and once we get this, or by December if we are able to make more savings from the paramilitary, who we do not owe any arrears, we will be able to divert that to pay police.
Challenges At PTAD
The primary challenge that I have is funding. The economy is in recession and so funding is a general problem. Another challenge is that of records and verification. We still have to go for verification. Right now, we are trying to raise funds so that we can embark on verification exercise for civil service pensioners. The verification will also enable us to know our pensioners physically and know the names that we are supposed to remove from our payroll.
When PTAD was established, we did not have any records. We just took over the payrolls that Mr Maina and others were using. It is now that we are cleaning the process with the records we have been able to generate. It is a tedious process, trying to establish an authentic payroll.
On Former PTAD DG’s Case with EFCC
I don’t like beating a fallen horse. If the EFCC decides to make their findings public concerning the investigation of the former Director General, it will be their decision. She has been busy trying to exonerate herself through newspaper writings but EFCC has not made any statement. And it is not for me to pronounce her guilty or innocent either. But she shouldn’t have been referred to EFCC in the first place if there was no prima facie case against her. But I am mindful of the image of PTAD as an organization and do not want to run it down. We are trying to make the agency a responsive and dignified agency and I should not be seen to be running down an organization that I am heading. However, we have already documented what happened and forwarded them to EFCC. I told you that we had issues with data and record-keeping and those are some of the things that she is being accused of. And these are issues for which contracts were awarded and never executed. These are some of the things we sent to EFCC. The question she should answer is whether those contracts were executed. Those are the issues but I do not want to dwell on them since we have handed them over to EFCC. We should just draw a line and move forward. That is why we have been quiet on our end. It is left for EFCC and herself to clear themselves.
Scamming of Pensioners
We have placed several adverts, warning pensioners from patronizing touts and also against paying money to anybody to help them process their papers. We also have call centres for people to make direct enquiries. If you are computer literate, you can make email enquiries. We are also now trying to link up with the call centre of the Head of Service. We spent a lot of money to do the link up so that pensioners will have a wider means to contact us. And we have been telling them through their unions. In fact, I am going to do radio jingles very soon to warn people not to pay to anybody. If we contact you for records, we will contact you on how it will get to us. We have online medium that pensioners can use. We have state offices where they can submit them. We will never ask you to pay a dime but we still find some people who will say some people are asking them to pay money. Even enlightened people are falling for such scam. A lawyer once approached me saying that someone asked him to pay for his mother in law to be verified and I asked how a lawyer should fall for such. And when you hear the way they present the issues, if you are logical and not greedy, you shouldn’t fall victim. For instance, if someone tells you that PTAD is about to pay you N10 million, you are supposed to know if you are entitled to that amount in the first place.
Our telephony system makes it difficult to track people. I have been working with Department of State Security Service (DSS) and all the phone numbers that people give me I forward to DSS to track but up till now, they have not been able to apprehend anybody. It is not easy to track people. We pay about N16 billion pensions monthly. It is a lot of money.
Allegation of holding two positions
It is not fair for anybody to accuse me of holding two offices. I am a director in the office of Accountant-General of the Federation. It was because of the mess created in PTAD that I was seconded there as acting Director-General. You can see than I still maintain my office in the Accountant-General’s office and whenever a substantive Director-General is appointed, I will return to my office. But up till now, no substantive Director-General has been appointed.
http://leadership.ng/business/552170/we-pay-about-n16bn-pension-monthly-ptad-acting-dg
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu is expected to be among the leading public figures attending the next edition of the Africa CEO Forum, which will take place on May 14-15, 2026, in Kigali, Rwanda
A strong Nigerian private-sector delegation will also take part, including Mr Aliko Dangote, Mr Wale Tinubu, Mr Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Mrs Adesuwa Ladoja, Mrs Rachel More-Oshodi, Mrs Zouera Youssoufou, Mr Karim Noujaim, Mr Dany Abboud, Mr Ayo Otuyalo and Mr Chukwuerika Achum. Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, will also be present.
According to a statement on Tuesday, the 2026 edition will convene in Kigali to address a defining question for Africa’s future: how to achieve the scale necessary to compete, integrate and thrive in a fragmenting world.
It comes as global power dynamics continue to evolve, while the ability of Africa to rely on competitive, agile and internationally integrated corporate champions has become a defining corporate imperative. In this shifting global landscape, one lesson is clear: scale is no longer optional. It is the first line of defence.
Organised by Jeune Afrique Media Group and co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Africa CEO Forum 2026 will convene Africa’s leading public and private decision-makers around a clear conviction: scale can only be achieved through shared African ownership.
The Forum will explore three strategic levers to build continental scale. First is shared equity, which will look to unlock cross-border equity investment to create multinational African champions. Mobilise African institutional capital across markets to strengthen resilience and enhance long-term returns.
Also, is shared infrastructure, which will take on designing complementary infrastructure to integrate African value chains. Champion transformative projects that serve regional, not merely national, needs and create truly connected markets.
Thirdly is shared frameworks, which is set to harmonise standards, rules and regulations to boost investor confidence and enable the free flow of capital, goods and services. Build future-proof digital rails for health, education, agriculture and cross-border payments.
Speaking on this, Mr Amir Ben Yahmed, President of the Africa CEO Forum, stated: “If Africa wants to compete in a world defined by scale, it must move beyond economic patriotism and embrace a new model: African capital investing together. Shared ownership, cross-border partnerships and continental ambition will define the economic future of Africa and the next generation of African champions.”
On his part, Mr Makhtar Diop, Managing Director at IFC, stated: “Africa has the capital and the opportunity to grow and create quality jobs. What matters now is putting that capital to work at scale. That means building trust, sharing risk, and investing across borders. The Africa CEO Forum brings leaders together to connect policy and private investment, and to help shape Africa’s next phase of growth.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, has directed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to investigate the allegations of systemic efforts to undermine local barge operators at the nation’s seaports.
The Minister issued the directive during the recent 2026 First Quarter Citizens/Stakeholders’ Engagement, Sectoral Performance Review, and Ministerial Management Retreat of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, held in Lagos.
During the engagement, representatives of barge operators alleged that there was a coordinated and deliberate attempt by certain foreign interests to edge them out of business.
According to the Special Adviser to the Minister, Mr Bolaji Akinola, they claimed that these actions, if left unchecked, could significantly weaken local capacity and disrupt the balance of competition within Nigeria’s maritime logistics chain.
The operators expressed concern that policies, operational bottlenecks, and preferential treatment allegedly being accorded to some foreign-linked entities by certain terminal operators were creating an uneven playing field.
According to them, these challenges are gradually eroding their market share and threatening the survival of indigenous businesses.
Responding to the concerns, the minister emphasised the federal government’s commitment to protecting local investments and ensuring fair competition within the maritime industry.
He directed the council, as the port economic regulator, to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the claims.
Mr Oyetola stressed that any form of anti-competitive behaviour or policy inconsistency that disadvantages Nigerian businesses would not be tolerated.
The minister also reiterated the importance of stakeholder engagement as a platform for identifying sectoral challenges and shaping responsive policy interventions, stressing that the government remains focused on strengthening the marine and blue economy sector as a driver of national growth, job creation, and sustainable development.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, has asked to know the real beneficiaries of the repeated payments made by the federal government to settle outstanding debts in the power sector.
Over the weekend, President Bola Tinubu approved the payment of N3.3 trillion for the “full and final” payment for debts in the electricity sector.
The action, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, was to ensure improvement in electricity supply in the country.
In a post on Tuesday, the former Governor of Anambra State questioned why the government is allegedly making the same payment it announced almost two years ago.
“On May 17, 2024, N3.3 trillion was approved for the same purpose. On July 25, 2024, another N4 trillion bond was approved to settle similar debts. There have also been other approvals in between, all targeted at addressing the same power sector liabilities.
“This raises a fundamental question: were the previous approvals mere announcements without execution?” he queried.
“During the 2023 campaign, President Bola Tinubu made a clear promise: that if he failed to deliver stable electricity, Nigerians should not re-elect him.
“Today, the reality is that power supply has worsened to the extent that there are even discussions about disconnecting the Presidential Villa from the national grid.
“Each time legitimate concerns are raised, what we see appears more like policy pronouncements than measurable progress.
“Now, again, we are confronted with another N3.3 trillion approval to settle power sector debts,” Mr Obi further said.
The chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) said, “These debts were largely accumulated under successive administrations of the All Progressives Congress between 2015 and 2025. This raises serious concerns about accountability, transparency, and effectiveness in public financial management.”
“It is important to note that government institutions and agencies, including the Presidential Villa, owe a significant portion of these debts. Year after year, budgets were made and funds appropriated. Why then were these obligations not settled when due? And from what source will this new payment be made? Are we resorting once more to borrowing to service inefficiencies?
“Key questions remain unanswered: How did the debt accrue? What is the actual total debt in the power sector? Which components of the debts are due to operators’ inefficiency and should be borne by them? Why have previous approvals not translated into tangible improvements? Who are the real beneficiaries of these repeated payments?
“Is the N3.3 trillion approved on April 6, 2026, the same as the N3.3 trillion approved in May 2024, and how does it relate to the N4 trillion bond approved in July 2024?
“Nigeria must move beyond recycled announcements and confront the power sector crisis with sincerity, transparency, and decisive reforms.
“Until we do so, we will remain trapped in a cycle of debt and darkness.
But with discipline, accountability, and the right leadership, a new Nigeria is still possible,” he wrote.
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