konknaijaboy | On 13, Mar 2014

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday denied that N24 billion police pension fund was unaccounted for in the Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD). Instead, she explained that the amount represented “an over-estimation of pension arrears”.

Recall that last Tuesday, the new Director General of the PTAD Nellie Mayshak stunned members of the House of Representatives committee on public accounts when she stated that the N24 billion released from Service Wide Vote for the payment of police pension in 2010 could not be traced.

However, spokesperson for the finance minister, Paul C. Nwabuikwu last night in a statement said as the minister told the senate joint committee on Pensions Administration in March 2012, “she ordered the account frozen to prevent fraud based on reports of suspicious transactions”.

The statement, however, confirmed the amount to have been an excess in the “frozen” account, saying “of the amount in the account, N24 billion was discovered to be an over-estimation of pensions arrears.

“The money was subsequently returned to govern-ment coffers as is the standard practice”, the statement said.