In response to questions on the delayed payment of pensions and other difficulties experienced by retirees, she stated that arrangements had been made for retired officers to receive their payments one week following retirement.
Umar was replying to questions from the Senate Committee on Finance at a hearing in Abuja on the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2023–2025.
The PENCOM chief also revealed that the N14.5 trillion pension cash in the Commission's vault was invested rather than sitting dormant as had been claimed in some circles.
The head of PENCOM said that the Federal Government has virtually finished clearing the backlog of accrued rights payments to pensioners that have caused delays in payment throughout the years.
She disclosed that the FG has been continuously paying N49 billion in pension payments each month with the goal of reducing the backlog of pension arrears.
The federal government, whose retirees are impacted, has taken the necessary steps in that regard, she added, so late pension payments to pensioners will soon be a thing of the past.
To expedite the process, she suggested that pensioners complete the necessary paperwork a year before to retiring.
Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, the chairman of the committee, however, said that aside from the N26 billion annually placed into the Commission budget without monetary backing, the annual repeating N102 million overhead subvention paid to the agency by the federal government would be abolished.