PenCom Pays N2.7trn To 1.27m Retirees Under CPS

BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says a total of 1.27 million retirees have benefited from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), amounting to N2.72 trillion in pension benefits, since its inception.

The Commission also disclosed that pension fund assets have risen to N17.64 trillion as of October 2023, noting that retirees under CPS are enjoying compared to those under the old defined benefit scheme.

Speaking at the 2023 Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) media parley in Lagos with the theme, “At the dawn of 20year Pension Reforms, What are the gains?”, Head of Surveillance Department PenCom, Ehimeme Ohioma said there was a need to commend the pension industry for the successes recorded in the Scheme so far.

According to him, 1,183 Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders have so far accessed N13 billion as pension mortgage finance, while 17,376 retirement savings account holders have transferred N356 billion from one Pension Fund Administrator to another under the RSA transfer system.

However, Ohioma said N12 billion contributions from employees of the defunct organisations, especially banks, remained unremitted to their owners who are unknown to both PenCom and PFAs, stressing that the Commission had advertised for workers in such defunct organisations to come forward with evidence to enable the PFAs transfer the funds to their RSAs.

He also said only N58 million of the funds have been accessed, and urged those concerned to check for their names on the list published on PenCom’s website.

Furthermore, Ohioma said PenCom is currently putting the finishing touches on foreign currency-denominated investment guidelines that would enable PFAs to earn real returns on investment.

In his remarks, the President of PenOp, Olumide Oyetan, praised the Commission for its support over the years and for setting up the framework to ensure operators play by the rules.

He said CPS remains one of the greatest national policy from democracy, noting that before the Scheme came into existence, retirees were subjected to old age poverty as they were unable to get their pension at retirement.

Oyetan, who doubles as the Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, said the CPS is unique due to the safe valves, checks, and balances ensured by the tripod structure which are the regulator, PFAs, and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).

Urging the government and public to sustain their faith in the CPS which for over 19 years has continued to thrive without any incident of fraud, Oyetan said pension operators would continue to innovate and comply with stipulated rules in offering quality services to contributors and retirees.

He listed adequate returns on investment, good service delivery, capacity, and skilled workers as critical elements to the growth and survival of the industry, insisting that effective service delivery remains a crucial factor in the industry.

“To ensure that the industry has efficient and effective service delivery the Commission in 2022 increased the minimum regulatory capital for Pension Fund Administrators. This is to ensure they have enough capital to be able to have critical infrastructure as well as to be able to run their business efficiently, be able to serve the public, and boast of good staff as well as conducive offices.

“Capacity is a continuous thing because the world is very dynamic. The skills of the industry practitioners both the operators as well as the commission need to be constantly upgraded to meet the acceptable standard.”

For the Chief Executive Officer of the PenOp, Oguche Agudah, the event was organised to keep journalists abreast of strides recorded so far in the pension industry and to also interact with them on how to improve service delivery in the sector”.

He noted that the industry in year 2024 would experience great transformations going by innovations being worked on by PenCom and operators.