WE ADMINISTER OUR PENSION WITH TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Rabiu Dabo as Chairman of the Military Pensions Board.

Over the years, pension issues in the Nigerian military have attracted protests from retirees. Though successive administrations have done their best in the circumstance to cater for the welfare of those who have served their motherland meritoriously, the appointment of Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Rabiu Dabo as Chairman of the Military Pensions Board, has however brought about a paradigm shift for better pensions management. His Board has introduced new innovations and has as well taken bold steps to reposition the state of affairs in military pensions matters.

In this interview, he speaks on the activities of his Board since its inception and the progressive ideas being implemented to give the Board a surer footing in the emerging dispensation.

It is almost like a convention in Nigeria for retirees to engage in civil and public agitation in the form of demonstrations, sit outs and sometimes picketing to get their entitlements paid. How much of these have you had since you assumed office and how did you handle it? If none, what is your recipe?

In any democracy, it is a common phenomenon to see government workers or retirees staging protests in order to push for better welfare or working conditions. Over the years, Nigerian military retirees have protested at one time or the other in order to bring their grievances to the attention of government. It is pertinent to state that almost all of their complaints have been resolved by previous administrations, which includes issues like the inclusion of the medically boarded soldiers and presidential pardoned ex-Biafran soldiers into our payroll. When I assumed office, there were only two lingering issue which are the payment of the arrears resulting from the 53% pension increment as well as the wide gap in pension rates of those who retired before July 2010 and those that retired after. I immediately realized that these were not issues we could resolve in-house, so we had to improve liaison with the relevant government agencies that could provide the solutions. The Board made numerous and unwavering efforts through the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Ministry of Finance, Budget Office of the Federation, National Salaries Wages and Income Commission as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in order to highlight the importance of these problems. In the meantime, we have been interacting individually and collectively with the military retirees at any opportunity to explain the situation and educate them on the steps being taken to provide lasting solutions. In a nutshell, our strategy of improved advocacy and engaging relevant stakeholders in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect has been the bane of our success in managing these issues so far.

The issue of non-payment of the agreed 53% increment in military pension has been a recurring source of concern to pensioners. Is there any hope of fulfilling this agreement in the very near future?

As a matter of fact, we have already started seeing the light on the issue of the 53% arrears. But first let me give a brief background on how we got here. You would recall that the Federal Government (FG) increased salaries of workers across board in July 2010 ranging from 53% to 120%. In compliance with S173 (3) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999, pensions were equally reviewed upward by 53%. Funds were consequently released by the Federal Government for the implementation of 33% out of the 53% increment and payment was accordingly effected to all military retirees since August 2013. Following this, however, the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission in late 2014 released a circular in which it was clarified that the arrears due to the pensioners is only 33%. Due to the huge financial outlay of the arrears and in the face of scarce resources, the money will be released in quarterly tranches starting from first quarter of 2015 until the arrears are defrayed. It is therefore gratifying to inform you that the Board has received the first release and payment to all the affected retirees has been completed for the first quarter of 2015.

What efforts are being made by the MPB to respond to the growing demands of its senior citizens in the light of the prevailing economic situation of the country typified by soaring away inflation? How regularly do you review your training and re-training program to meet with challenges of the ever changing climes?

To respond to your question, I would like to draw your attention to Section 173(3) of the 1999 Constitution which states that “pensions must be increased anytime salaries and wages are increased or must be reviewed every 5 years if salaries and wages are not increased”. I believe if this Section of the Constitution is adhered to at all time, then the problem of inflation will be retroactively taken care of. Let us not also forget that the 53% pension increment of July 2010 falls into this category. Similarly, there have been other pension increments before and when all these are put together, you would agree with me that certainly, the government is not sleeping and has been making policies that would mitigate the effect of inflation on the purchasing power of our pensioners. As for training, we believe that in order to succeed, the Board must have a highly professional and versatile staff. With this in mind, I am glad to inform you that we organize training days on every Wednesday for our personnel. Similarly, resource persons are invited occasionally to deliver one-week workshop for our personnel. The Board has also been organizing both local and foreign training for its key personnel in order to keep abreast of current trends and best practices. The results of these efforts are not far-fetched as anyone who comes to the Board now testifies on the professionalism and comportment of our staff.

The old pension scheme otherwise known as the Defined Benefit Scheme which the MPB operates has been reputed to be fraught with financial impropriety. Though there has not been any case of such infraction in the MPB, what steps is the new leadership taking to ensure that it does not fall into this unwholesome practice?

Let me respond to your question by going a little memory lane. In June 2004, a law was enacted making it mandatory on Federal civil servants, the Armed Forces and workers in private sector firms employing more than 5 persons to make a monthly contribution into the individual pension saving account based on private management.  This policy was conceived against the backdrop of mounting problems with the previous Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) otherwise known as PAYG system, which the country had operated since independence.

The PAYG system had hitherto placed the responsibility on the government for ensuring income security in old age.  This system continued to pass through dire circumstances, with pension arrears rising to record levels and government could no longer continue with the old scheme. In keeping with global trend the government responded to the crisis by the passage of the Pension Reforms Act of 2004.

Under such circumstances, and in the face of the prevailing philosophical leaning of the government towards market-oriented reforms, the pension system was restructured to give the private sector a greater say in the management of pension, and to place the responsibility of old age security into the hands of the workers themselves.

AVM MR Dabo flanked by his colleagues at the Military Pensions, at the National Assembly for an official assignment.

However, given the peculiar nature of the Armed Forces, the military felt short changed and again sought to be reverted to the old scheme. This agitation received a boost when the issue of unpalatable stories of military retirees was discussed on the floor of the National Assembly. A Bill to exempt the military from Contributory Pension Scheme was subsequently sponsored and eventually passed and signed into law in July 2011. Consequently, the administration of the military pension is being guided by the Armed Forces Pension Act No 103 of 1979, which is based on the DBS. The Act empowers the Military Pensions Board to administer the payment of military retirees' pension to and death benefits to next-of-kins. These payments are funded from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account.

Our mandate therefore is unarguably daunting but simple. It is simple in the sense that we know what we are supposed to do. And we carry out our responsibilities with great sense of commitment through the principles of accountability and transparency. We administer monthly pension promptly as funds are made available to us without any undue delay. We ensure full payment of pension and gratuity to retirees; what is due to them is what they are given. We ensure that Next-of-Kins are not subjected to unnecessary procedures to get the entitlements of their deceased relations. While our procedures are straight forward, they are also effective and guarantees due accountability and transparency.

The military has lost a sizeable number of its men and officers to the Boko Haram insurgency. What has the MPB done or is doing to assuage the pains and agonies of their NoK including those that are permanently incapacitated?

In answering your question, let me first of all remind you of our statutory role, which is to administer the military retirees' pension and death benefits to next-of-kins of deceased military personnel. In administering death benefits to next-of-kins, we ensure that the process for the payment of their entitlements is not cumbersome but very effective for the purpose of transparency and accountability. We are committed to ensuring that there is no unnecessary delay in the payment of death benefits to next-of-kins as we are aware that prompt payment to them will go a long way to assuage their pains and agonies.  I must mention here that the Federal Government's support in this regard as to the prompt release of funds for payments of pension and death benefits has been very encouraging.

On the other hand, the Military Pensions Board has no direct responsibility to decide on what is to be done for military personnel who are permanently incapacitated. Our responsibility is to pay them their rightful entitlements as defined by the Armed Forces regulations. However, just as I mentioned before, whatever is their entitlements, we pay them.

The new leadership has a package of objectives encapsulated in its vision for the board. Which of these core values have been maximally achieved and how did you accomplish them?

The Mission of the Board, which is “to ensure full and prompt payment of retirement and death benefits through transparent pension administration”, is unambiguous. It is our guiding principle. In order to achieve this, there is the need to consolidate on the efforts and support of government. Our core value system is to offer “excellent service delivery” to military pensioners and next-of-kins. We have been able to achieve this through transparency, discipline, accountability, synergy and communication as well as appropriate liaison with relevant stakeholders. Pension administration must be transparent; there must be accountability and discipline in order to accomplish set objectives.

Military Pensions Board in one of its sessions.

Having been in the saddle for about one year, what would you count as your major achievements and your most challenging tasks?

The task of administering military pension and death benefits is very enormous. However, to achieve any administration success there must be commitment and focus. Therefore through unwavering commitment, we have been able to record some notable achievement within the past one year. These include; improved synergy with veteran bodies (Nigerian Legion and RANAO) and proactive liaison activities with government agencies and other military pension stakeholders for lasting solution to pensioners' welfare; Others are; prompt payment of gratuities and inclusion into payroll of retirees within one month of receiving necessary document; establishment of Medical Reception Station (MRS) for the Board; accreditation of the MRS by National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and extension of medical services to military pensioners. Also, prompt payment of death benefits to Next-of-Kins (NoKs) as well as clearing of NoK backlog from 2011 -2013.

As I mentioned earlier, military pension administration is undoubtedly a challenging task because of pensioners' unending demands and complaints. The major challenge to me however, is to ensure that the rightful demands of military pensioners' are being taken care of as well as those of the next-of-kins. Our commitment therefore in this regard is resolute.

What is your advice to pensioners and those preparing for retirement on how to live a well and meaningful life devoid of regrets in their retirement?

Let me answer you by drawing your attention to the fact that Pension Schemes provided by government(s) cannot guarantee a happy retirement to socio-economic life. Retirement should always be seen as an opportunity for a second career. It can be a chance to realize dreams that were put aside during the years of active military career. To me, retirement is what you make it to be. My advice therefore to pensioners and those preparing for retirement is that they should realize the above fact and ensure that they have their personal plans outside pension payment.