Barbara Bako, Abuja.
The Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, has revealed that, the pension fund assets have consistently increased since the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), amounting to N20.87 trillion as of July 2024.
According to Ms. Oloworaran, this increase was achieved under PenCom’s management, marking a significant improvement compared to the previous pension scheme, which had recorded N2 trillion as of June 2004.
The DG who was represented by Ibrahim Buwai, Head of Corporate Communications PenCom made this known on Thursday, while addressing journalists at the Pension Correspondence Association of Nigeria (PENCAN) conference in Abuja.
She further stated that the remarkable growth was enabled by a sound regulation and stringent oversight from PenCom as a result the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) have also grown to 10.41 million.
While addressing the Conference theme: 20 Years of Pension Reform Act: Gains, Challenges, and Prospects, the DG said “It is appropriate in providing a platform to reflect on the enormous milestones attained in the Nigerian pension reform while highlighting its potentials and challenges.”
“The continuous upliftment of the CPS implementation remains PenCom’s primary task and based on our consultative regulatory philosophy, input from all stakeholders is given utmost priority in policy formulation,” she added.
The PenCom Boss explained that, “In 2004, the implementation of the CPS was heralded by the enactment of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 (later repealed and re-enacted as the PRA 2014), which transformed pension administration in Nigeria.”
“The rationale for the reform has been severally rehashed, but suffice it to mention that it sought to reverse the inefficiencies of the Defined Benefit Scheme and instituted a sustainable pension system for Nigeria.”
The CPS she said introduced a paradigm shift in pensions resulting in a contributory scheme whereby both employer and employee were required to contribute monthly towards pensions for Nigerian workers.
According to Ms. Oloworaran this ensured that retirement savings were fully funded, portable, and accessible to workers in both the public and private sectors.
“Most importantly, it empowered workers to make individual choices, with their pension contributions being remitted into individual Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), managed by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) of their choice and kept in safe custody by Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs),” she said.
The PenCom DG also revealed that the commission, as it celebartes its achievements also working tirelesly to resolve the challenges its facing.
“While there are many reasons to celebrate the CPS implementation over the 20-year period, PenCom remains mindful of some challenges and continues to spare no efforts at resolving them.
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“The delay in the payment of accrued pension rights for the retires of treasury funded MDAs is one of such challenges. Although the current delay in the payment of retirees’ accrued rights negates the cardinal objective of the CPS of payment of retirement benefits as and when due, I would like to assure you that this situation will soon be resolved,” she assured.
She further stated, “It is also heart-warming to report that concerted efforts by critical stakeholders have reached advanced stages, to not only clear all outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government under the CPS, but to also put in place lasting solutions that will address the problems of inadequate funding and delay in fund releases for the payment accrued rights.”
Mr. Ogwuche Aguda, Chief Executive Officer, Pension Funds Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) during his address charged PENCAN members to not just report the worst but also report the achievements.
He said, “We want to see more news, more information, more investigative journalism, more dynamism, more innovation, because people need to know what the industry is doing.”
Mr. Agada said that sometimes, “You hear somebody has not been paid, somebody has been paid 30,000 and it’s all over the place and people are shouting, but how about people that have been paid 1 million naira every month? There are pensioners today that are paid more.”
“How about people that are paid on time? Hundreds and thousands of Nigerians who are paid but the news is not reasonable, but immediately, somebody is not paid and we feel for them, but what we want to say is that we need to have balanced news,” he added.
Also present at the event is the representative of Chief of the Air Force, Air Vice Marshall Chidi Obiabaka, Director Veteran Affairs
Head Quarters Nigerian Air force, Henry Ifeanyi Mbadiwe Registrar/ Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN),
Among others.
