- Commission holds stakeholders’ retreat in Abuja
BY COBHAM NSA – With assets in excess of N13 trillion invested in various aspects of the Nigerian economy, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) says ongoing review and proposed amendment to the Pension Reform Act 2014 will reposition the pension industry for effective mandate delivery.
Director-General of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the review is a backwash to some implementation challenges encountered with certain sections of the Act not long after its enactment in July 2014.
Speaking at a retreat on the review of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014) in Abuja, Dahir-Umar said the exercise seeks to further identify salient issues for reappraisal in the Pension Act as a prelude to advancing legislative action on the Bill.
She told participants that with the PRA 2014 codifying one of the Federal Government’s most important socio-economic reform initiatives, the National Assembly (NASS) is expected to further strengthen the Act in addressing existing and emerging challenges in the implementation and driving growth in the nation’s Pension industry.
Dahir-Umar said as a responsible organisation, the Commission cannot ignore the persistent calls from stakeholders for the amendment of some sections of the Act, adding that these resulted in several legislative initiatives through the sponsorship of Bills for amendment of the PRA 2014 by the National Assembly.
According to her, expectations are high that the lawmakers would subsequently organize a public hearing that would provide an avenue for stakeholders to formally make input into the proposed amendments.
The PenCom boss said as the regulator of the pension industry, the Commission decided to coordinate and harmonize the various efforts towards achieving a more comprehensive and constructive exercise for the review of the PRA 2014.
Recalled that the PRA 2014 came into existence following a review of the initial Pension Reform Act of 2004 which introduced legal and institutional frameworks of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and established PenCom to regulate and supervise all pension matters in Nigeria.
