Pension operators, NASS to review lump sum payable to retirees

Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) and the Joint Committee for Establishment and Public Service of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Pension have agreed to review lump sum payable to retirees. The agreement was contained in a communique on at the end of the third annual PenOp-NASS retreat in Lagos. The lawmakers and Pension Operators said the retirees’ lump sum needed to be reviewed to address issues of adequacy and contributors’ agitation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Pension Commision, under the current Pension Reform Act stipulates that pension managers pay retirees 25 per cent of their total Retirement Savings Account (RSA) upon retirement.

The two parties resolved that a survey should be commissioned by PenOp to be handled by a third party to gauge the level of satisfaction with the scheme. Stakeholders insist the National Assembly should set up a task force to engage state governments and come up with innovative ways to help drive compliance by state governments. The two parties stated that huge public enlightenment was required to drive compliance amongst state governments to expose them to the benefits of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). They noted that the state government also needed to be educated on how to leverage pension assets to facilitate infrastructural development. They resolved that pension operators should take the issue of documentation seriously in order to ensure that pensioners were not made to go through unnecessary stress to access their benefits.

The operators and legislators noted that the pension industry had continued to record impressive growth across key performance indicators since the pension reform of 2004. They said: “Pension assets have grown at an impressive rate since inception, as pension assets stood at 12.4 trillion while the number of contributors stood at 9.4 million as at April 30.”

According to them, the pension industry in addition to being beneficial to contributors, has played pivotal role in driving economic growth and development of the country. The key players noted that whilst the scheme had recorded several giant strides in its 17 years of operations, there were still so many issues that needed to be addressed in order for the sector to create more value for all stakeholders. (NAN)