Military Pensions Board Begins Pilot Electronic Verification of 11,000 Retirees in 36 States, FCT

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Military Pensions Board (PMB) has announced the commencement of pilot electronic verification of 11,000 pensioners in 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory.
The exercise is billed to to take off by February 19 in the 36 States and Abuja.
At the unveiling of the Electronic Verification Management System for military retirees in Abuja, Chairman of the Military Pensions Board (PMB), Air Vice Marshal Paul Irumheson, said the system will replace the board’s traditional physical verification process for veterans to access their pensions, gratuities and other benefits.  
He said the introduction of the electronic system was a response to retirees’ complaints about the cumbersome physical verification process, particularly challenging for them due to their advanced age.
He stated that continuing with the physical verification exercise had become difficult due to factors such as the high cost of transportation, security risks among others.  
He disclosed that over 11,000 retirees distributed across the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory would participate in the testing phase, starting on February 19.
“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. 
“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”, he said.
“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.
“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  February 19 to  March 1, 2024”, he said.
He said pensioners would 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).
Irumheson cautioned retirees against sharing their ATM details, stating that such information is unnecessary for the verification exercise.