- Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) have paid out N77.18 billion in death benefits of 27,321 deceased employees from last year to the first quarter of 2015, the Executive Secretary PenOp, Ms. Susan Oranye, has disclosed.
- She said in a statement that in the first quarter of 2015 alone, the PFAs paid N4.44 billion in death benefits to the next-of-kins of 1,450 former employees.
- Oranye said in line with the provisions to cater for workers who were disengaged, 96,002 of them, were last year, given 25 percent of their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balances amounting to N20.72 billion.
- She noted that of the 96,002 people, 91, 3555 were from the private sector while 4,647 were from the public sector.
“In the third quarter of 2014, the National Pensions Commission (PenCom) granted approval for the payment of 25 percent of RSA balances amounting to N20.72 billion to 96,002 RSA holders who retired before the age of 50 years and having stayed for at least four months after retirement without securing a new employment,” she said.
- The PenOp executive secretary urged employers to embrace the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to enable their workers enjoy the numerous benefits provided by the Pension Reform Act 2014.
PenOp is really doing a lot to change the face of Pensions in Nigeria, however, there’s still a lot to be done in terms of public perception about pensions and how it was bastardized under the Government agencies.
It is actually the Insurance Companies that paid the death benefits through the PFAs due to the requirement for either a Will or Letters of Administration. With the Pension Reform Act 2014, death benefits could now be paid directly to the named next of kin(s) as stated by the employees in their records with the employers.