The total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to N5.9tn as of the end of September.

The Director-General, National Pension Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, disclosed this during a seminar in Abuja.

“Some of the major success indicators include the consistent growth in a large pool of pension assets of over N5.9tn, which are invested in structured and safe financial instruments; and registration of 7.2 million pension contributors and 170,000 retirees under the CPS, among others,” she said.
The director-general, who was represented by the Commissioner in-charge of Inspectorate, PenCom, Prof. Mohammed Abubakar, said the relative success of the implementation of the Pension Reform Act could largely be attributed to the fundamental structures upon which the CPS was built.

She noted that the cardinal principle of separation of custody from management and supervision of pension funds had resulted in a pension scheme with sound internal mechanism for transparency and accountability.

The PenCom boss said the re-enactment of the PRA in July 2014 provided a sound basis to guide the second decade of the pension reform, adding that the Act sought to ensure that more tangible benefits accrued to retirees towards a more blissful retirement.

The enactment of the PRA 2014, Anohu-Amazu added, served as the basis for the implementation of the commission’s new corporate strategy plan.

“Expanding the coverage of the CPS to the underserved economic sectors through our micro pension initiative is a key priority of our strategic vision. As we seek to increase registered pension contributors to at least 20 million by the year 2019, informal sector participation through the micro pension plan is expected to provide the impetus,” he said.

The Head, Investment Supervision, PenCom, Mr. Ehimeme Ohioma, said about 55 per cent of contributors under the CPS were less than 40 years old, which meant that the funds were available for long-term investment as those contributing would not be retiring very soon.