PTAD Director-General Suspended Over Alleged Fraud

An alleged scam running into billions of naira has been discovered at the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The details of the alleged scam are still sketchy, but the director-general (DG),

Nellie Mayshak, has been placed on an indefinite suspension while security agents have already swooped on the office to carry out investigations after a damning audit report.
The acting DG is a director from the Office Of Accountant-General Of Federation, sources revealed, even as reports said that the recently introduced biometric registration by banks exposed a lot of questionable dealings in the directorate.
An official of the PTAD who spoke with The Cable said that there is no scam.
“The DG is on suspension as a result of an investigation into an audit report. It is not about any billions stolen,” the official said.

The PTAD was established in August 2013 under the Pension Reform Act (PRA) of 2004 to oversee the management of pensions under the defined benefit scheme for pensioners not transiting to the defined contributory scheme. Previous investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have revealled the underbelly of pension management in the country.

On November 2, 2015, the former chairman of the PensionReform Task Team, a committee set up to clean up the pension system, Abdulrasheed Maina, was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency for alleged complicity in the stealing of N2 billion pension funds. He was said to have connived with the former head of the Federal Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye, who is now facing trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for the alleged offence.
Also, on March 8, a former assistant director, Pension Account, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, one Mohammed Ahmed Katun, was arraigned on a 12-count amended charge bordering on diversion of N81.4 million pension funds before Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

SOURCE:  Leadershipng