By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Military Pensions Board (MPB) on Thursday began the payment of Security Debarment Allowance (SDA) to eligible military retirees and next-of-kins of the deceased pensioners.

The Chairman of the board, Rear Adm. Saburi Lawal, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Lawal said the payment was sequel to the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the SDA to be paid to retirees who originally were not covered by the Nov. 9, 2017 effective date.

He said It was also in line with the agreement reached at the ensuing tripartite meetings of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance and representatives of the veteran associations.

According to him, the board has commenced payment of the first and second tranches covering first and second quarters.

Lawal said the beneficiaries were military retirees on MPB database who retired before Nov. 9, 2017, deceased military retirees who were alive when the Manual of Financial Administration (MAFA) 2017 was signed in 2017 and non-pensionable retirees who retired before Nov. 9, 2017 but were only paid gratuities.

He said the SDA was calculated as a function of 10 per cent of the retirees’ annual basic salary as at the time of retirement, multiplied by the number of years served in the services.

He urged all concerned military pensioners and NOKs of the deceased military personnel to contact their banks for their entitlements.

The Chairman thanked President Buhari for his support to military retirees and the NOKs of deceased personnel.

“The Board would like to thank our esteemed military retirees for their patience and understanding during the process of getting funds for commencement of payment of this outstanding allowance.

“On its part, the Board pledges to ensure prompt payment of subsequent tranches of this arrears, once funds are made available,” he said. (NAN)

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