Over 10,000 pensioners of federally-funded parastatals, agencies and institutes under the Defined Benefit Scheme have been verified by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate during the fifth phase of the parastatals’ pensioners verification exercise in the South East region.

A statement from the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate said the exercise commenced on August 26 across four centres in Awka, Enugu and Owerri.

Owing to the large turnout of pensioners in Enugu and Owerri, the Executive Secretary, PTAD, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, approved a six-day extension for the centre in Owerri and a four-day extension for the centre in Enugu.

He added that the extension was to ensure that all eligible pensioners and next of kin who presented themselves were verified.

PTAD stated that the exercise which held simultaneously across the four centres recorded an average daily turnout of 344 pensioners.

It added that the verification exercise did not include Customs, Immigration and Prisons pensioners, civil service pensioners, Police pensioners as well as parastatals pensioners who had already been verified by PTAD.

The next phase of the parastatals’ pensioners exercise in the North West region commenced on Monday and would end on October 2, 2019.

The statement said, “Pensioners are again advised that they do not have to travel to the state or location they retired from to be verified. They can be verified at any of our centres that is within the geo-political zones where they currently reside.

“All pensioners currently living outside the country will be verified whenever they visit the country provided they show proof of residency outside Nigeria.”