Military Pensions Board has launched an electronic verification management application system for the verification of its retirees. Over 11,000 retirees would be captured in the pilot phase of the scheme beginning from 19 February to 1 March 2024.
The chairman of the board, Air Vice Marshal Paul Irumheson said the pilot phase of the verification exercise has 300 retirees selected each from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The board had in the past conducted physical verification of pensioners in designated locations across the country.
Irumheson, however, said continuing with the physical verification exercise has become difficult due to factors such as” the old age of our esteemed pensioners, the high cost of transportation, the security risks associated with travelling by road and the financial burden of travelling down to Nigeria for pensioners residing abroad, among others”.
He said to ease the process of future verification exercises and sustain the integrity of the pension database,” the Military Pensions Board has developed a system for the electronic verification of pensioners.
The system, known as the “Military Pensions Board Electronic Verification Management System” is officially being launched today,“ he said.
Irumheso explained that the electronic verification management system is a web-based system designed to enable pensioners to carry out their verification from the comfort of their locations using a mobile device.
He said, „The system takes pensioners through multiple stages of a verification process that ends with the generation of a reference number which is sent to pensioners via text message and email“.
He said pensioners will be required to download the Military Pensions Board Electronic Verification Application from the Google Play Store (for Android Phone users) or the AppStore (for iPhone users).
“The board would commence the deployment of the electronic verification application with a pilot test in which 300 pensioners drawn from each of the 36 states of the Federation would test the application. The pilot test will take place from 19 February – 1 March 2024“.
The chairman clarified that pensioners who were selected to participate in the pilot test have been duly notified through the Nigerian Legion and other veterans associations, adding that the selected pensioners will not be required to visit the Board to participate in the pilot test.
AVM Irumheson said a link would be sent to the pensioners via SMS instructing them to download the electronic verification application and carry out the verification in their respective locations.
He said pensioners who did not receive any notification should kindly note that they are not part of the pilot test and would not be able to gain access to the system to carry out their verification at this time. On successful completion of the pilot test, the application would be deployed on a full scale at programmed intervals for pensioners on the Board’s payroll to carry out their verification“.
He however cautioned that „pensioners’ ATM card details and ATM card PIN are not required for the confirmation process. Therefore, our esteemed pensioners are warned to be wary of fraudsters,“ he said.