Some members of the Organized Private Sector (OPS) on Friday disclosed that out of 73 million Nigerian workers, only 10 million have enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
This disclosure was made at the interactive session on the Contributory Pension Scheme for the OPS organized by the National Pension Commission in collaboration with the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in Enugu.
Dr Onyeka, the Enugu State Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel, bemoaned the poor enrollment of workers in the CPS, describing it as unfortunate.
Okoh noted that federal workers and employees of multinational companies in Nigeria are complying with the Pension Scheme Act of 2014 but most of the workers in the informal sector were yet to comply.
He attributed the compliance of the enrollment of employees of multinationals with the PenCom scheme to the way they were structured to function well.
Reasons for poor enrollment in CPC
According to Okoh, corruption and the lack of strong will on the part of regulatory bodies were the chief reasons for the poor enrollment of Nigerian workers with the Contributory Pension Scheme.
He stressed that for the situation to improve, corruption must be “killed”.
Why enrollment with CPS is important
In his remarks, the South East Chairman of the National Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr Ugo Chime, highlighted the importance of the CPS.
According to Chime, the PenCom scheme eliminated the nightmare workers faced after retirement. He noted that prior to the scheme, “life after retirement could be described as uncertain and unpredictable”.
However, with the Pension Reform Act 2014, the narrative has changed significantly.
- “Before, life after retirement could be described as uncertain and unpredictable. However, with the Pension Reform Act 2014, the narrative has changed significantly.
- “Primarily, because no matter the efforts put into a system or process, there will always be room for improvement. Thus, following the enactment of the Act and successive PenCom leadership, we have had a series of improvements and innovations in the pension scheme administration,” Chime said.
