The Federal Government of Nigeria has been urged by the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) and the National Assembly, to constitute a board for the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
According to The Nation, the request was part of a communique released after a two-day retreat by the National Assembly and PenOp. They urged that the request should be treated as soon as possible by President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the presidency should also resolve the issues relating to the payment of accrued right of pensioners.
The communique jointly released and signed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Ibrahim Shekarau; Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Pensions, Honourable Kabiru Alhassan Usman Rurum and the President PenOp, Mrs Aderonke Adedeji, disclosed that many state governments did not comply with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA). The communique added that amendment needed to be made to the Pension Act of 2014, to improve processes in the pension industry.
“Improved legislation should ensure that the industry doubles its asset at least every five years. The meeting agreed that the operators need to continue their engagement with the private sector and the government to increase the level of infrastructure investment for pension assets while not compromising safety of retirees’ funds.”
However, the pension operators and the National Assembly Joint Committees recognized the progress the industry had made since the pension reforms of 2004.
[READ MORE: PenCom discontinues Employee Death Benefit Account]
“The nation has transited from an unsustainable scheme into one that is beneficial to contributors and the nation at large but agreed that more needs to be done to enable the pension industry to benefit more Nigerians.
“As at September 30, 2019, there were 8.85 million registered participants, N9.58 trillion assets under management, which have been deployed in critical sectors of the economy. There are 298,614 retirees on the scheme; 227,400 are on programmed withdrawal while 71,214 retirees have opted for annuity; 59,057 death benefits have been paid,” the Communique stated.
