By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Military Pensions Board (MPB) has inaugurated its electronic verification system with 10,800 retirees comprising 300 each from the 36 states of the federation, to be verified in the pilot phase.

The Chairman of the Board, AVM Paul Irumheson, made this known while addressing newsmen on the inauguration of the Military Pensions Board Electronic Verification Management System on Thursday in Abuja.

Irumheson said the board had, in the past, carried out physical verification of pensioners in designated locations across the country.

He said the aim was to ensure that all pensionable retirees both home and abroad were still alive and eligible for pension, while promptly removing unqualified or deceased pensioners from the Board’s payroll.

The chairman said that while the physical verification had helped the board to maintain a comprehensive and reliable database that facilitated accurate budget preparation and pension payments, it had become difficult due to certain factors.

The factors, according to him, include the old age of 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.

“Therefore, 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.

“This system, known as the “Military Pensions Board Electronic Verification Management System” is officially being launched today.

“MPB Electronic Verification Management System is a web-based system designed to enable our pensioners carry out their verification from the comfort of their locations using a mobile device.

“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.

Irumheson said the pensioners would be required to download the application from the Google Play Store (for Android Phone users) or the AppStore (for iPhone users) to carry out their verification.

According to him, they would open the application and agree to the attestation, adding that the pensioners would be required to input their Bank and Bank Account Number and check the Terms and Conditions box to gain access to the system.

“Upon gaining access to the system, pensioners will be required to follow the instructions on the screen for a selfie capture of their face for liveness verification.

"Thereafter, pensioners will input their National Identity Number (NIN) or Driver’s License Number for biodata verification.

“If both operations are successful, pensioners will be required to update their profile by providing their phone number, email address and BVN for validation.

“If the validation is successful, a reference number will be generated, which will serve as a proof of completion of the verification process.

“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 added.

The chairman said the pilot test would take place from Feb.19 to March 1

He added that the pensioners, who were selected to participate in the pilot test, had been duly notified through the Nigerian Legion and other veterans associations.

He said that the selected pensioners would not be required to visit the board to participate in the pilot test as a link would be sent to them via SMS.

The link would further instruct them to download the electronic verification application and carry out the verification in their respective locations.

“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.”

He said the application would be deployed on a full scale at programmed intervals for pensioners on the board’s payroll to carry out their verification after successful completion of the pilot test.

Irumheson assured all pensioners that the electronic verification solution was designed with their utmost welfare in mind, leveraging on technology to achieve accuracy, user-friendliness, and convenience.

He also reassure pensioners and Next-of-Kin of deceased personnel that the board was working tirelessly to ensure that their entitlements were always paid as and when due.

“The welfare of pensioners and Next-of-Kin of deceased personnel remains our utmost priority and we would not rest on our oars,” he added. (NAN)

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