The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has vowed to impose sanctions on retired workers who fake death in order to obtain gratuity benefits.

The commission also ordered banks to close the accounts of pensioners reported dead and observe reactions, while directing pension fund administrators (PFAs) to contact the relatives of employers reported dead for verification.

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This followed increasing staged deaths to take money from the retirement savings accounts of retirees.

In an interview with the PUNCH, Obiora Ibeziako, PenCom’s benefit and insurance department head, said that the organisation was embarking on this move to safeguard pension earners’ money.

“Nigerians have been dying and resurrecting. If you send us a notification that you are dead, we will make sure that your bank blocks your account also. We have seen people fake their own deaths; we have seen spouses fake the deaths of their partners when the PFAs start the due process,” he said.

“In fact, in a particular case, they were processing a man’s death benefit and he walked in and everybody picked up. The wife had actually procured obituary announcement, everything required to be done without the man knowing.”

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The NPC also stated that it had received a series of complaints from pensioners alleging wrongful payment of their benefits to their loved ones or legal beneficiaries.

“Following these complaints and reports by the PFAs, it has become imperative to issue additional measures to curb these complaints and strengthen the processes and practices of processing and payment of death benefits,” said the commission.

To ensure due diligence, PenCom vowed to conduct a thorough search of the certificate registry of issuing authorities to truly verify the authenticity of documents presented to claim gratuity benefits.