FG Releases N31.97bn For Retirees’ Accrued Pension Rights
The Federal Government has released another N31.97bn for the payment of accrued pension rights to 2021 retirees of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
PenCom, in a statement on Thursday titled ‘Federal government releases funds for payment of accrued pension rights under the Contributory Pension Scheme’, said this followed a recent release of N16.67bn in December.
It said, “The National Pension Commission is pleased to announce an additional release of N31.97bn by the Federal Government for the payment of accrued pension rights to 2021 retirees of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“This follows an earlier release of the sum of N16.67bn, thus bringing the total amount released for payment of the 2021 accrued pension rights to N48.64bn. The Federal Government had earlier settled all arrears of accrued pension rights payments to the verified and enrolled retirees up to December 2020.”
The accrued pension rights represent an employee’s benefits for the past years of service up to June 2004 when the Pension Reform Act that birthed the Contributory Pension Scheme came into effect, according to PenCom.
During a visit by the Senate Committee on Establishment & Public Services to PenCom in 2021, the pension regulator highlighted some of the major challenges of the commission and sought for the support of the lawmakers.
A major challenge according to PenCom was that a large number of Federal Government employees who retired from under the Contributory Pension Scheme had delays in getting their pensions due to non-payment of their accrued pension rights.
“This challenge, which started in 2014, was essentially triggered by the appropriation of insufficient amounts for payment of accrued pension rights of FGN retirees and further aggravated by late or non-release of full appropriated amounts,” PenCom stated.
PenCom urged the National Assembly to intervene in the matter of payment of outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government.
The federal government will continue to pay unending accrued pension rights, except the prevailing iniquitous contributory Pension law is reviewed.
I often wonder how PTAD source funds which they effectively use to pay DBS retirees their Pension increases promptly, and why in the same country PENCOM has failed to do same for contributory retirees who are also entitled to the pension increaments which PTAD has paid.
The excellent service delivery from PTAD clearly indicates that unlike in the past, contributory retirees can also be paid by a public managed pension office.
Many countries that previously embraced CPS managed by pension fund managers, have reverted to public management of Pension, what is Nigeria waiting for.?
Why are leaders of NLC and TUC not on the same page with their colleagues in Chile and all over the world who have openly rejected the contributory pension system managed by private pension fund managers,why have they not engaged government to address the obvious problems inherent in the privately managed CPS?
Are our labour leaders benefiting from this privatized pension system? the answer to this question in the words of Bob Dylan”is blowing in the wind?
CPS managed by private managers should be scraped