Lagos State seems to be leading among the states that prioritise the welfare of their retirees, especially in the payment of pension, as another batch of 266 retirees in the state received their retirement bond certificates for a total sum of N784.69 million pension rights.
As announced by the Director-General (DG), Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Folashade Onanuga, the retirees received their bond certificates at the 64th Retirement Benefit Bond Certificate presentation ceremony.
Why this matters: This development came after the acting Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Aisha Dahir-Umar disclosed that the states operating the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) did not remit about N3.4 billion pension contributions as of Friday, May 31, 2019.
[READ MORE: Analysis: More Nigerians are saving for retirement.]
Dahir-Umar said, “Based on PFAs’ returns, over N3.4bn pension contributions are uncredited into state employees’ RSAs as of May 31, 2019, and the age analysis showed that over 38 per cent of this amount had been outstanding for over one year.”
The implication of this is that states which fail to be consistent in remitting the pension contributions that have already been deducted from workers’ salaries will not be consistent in paying retirees their pension.
A look into how Nigeria’s pension funds performed in 2019 Q1: The latest pension statistics has shown that the Nigerian Pension Fund asset crossed the N9 trillion mark in the first quarter of 2019. Most analysts have largely attributed this feat to the growing awareness campaigns which have influenced the willingness of Nigerians to take their retirement plan seriously.
Also, Pension data covering the first quarter of 2019 shows that Pension Contributors in Nigeria rose to 8.57 million compared to 8.41 million contributors recorded in Q4 2018. From the foregoing, it can be seen that the number of pension account holders increased by 2% between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019.
Pension contribution by age: A closer look at the pension data shows that pension contributors within the age group 30-39 years are dominant with 36% (3.06 million) of total contributors in the first quarter of 2019. Between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019, contributors aged 30-39 years increased by 14,873.
[READ ALSO: PENCOM issues guidelines on withdrawals from voluntary contributions.]
- Also, pension contributors within the age group of 40-49 years old stood at 2.40 million (28% of total) in Q1 2019, rising by 60,341 when compared to what obtained in the previous quarter (Q4 2018).
- The total pension contributors within the age bracket of 50-59 years ranked the third with 1.54 million (18% of total) as at Q1 2019. Compared to the contributors in the previous quarter (1.52 million), the contributors within the age bracket rose by 60,341 in one quarter.
- Similarly, contributors aged 60-65 years recorded a 24,161 increase in one quarter, improving the total contributors with this age bracket to 494,826.
- A further breakdown shows that contributors within the age bracket 65 and above rose by 14,171 contributors in the first quarter to hit 494,826 contributors.
- Lastly, contributors under 30 grew the slowest with 12,761 contributors with the last quarter, with a total of 816,656 contributors.
