Only four states and the federal capital territory have started paying contributory pensions to employees, according to the National Pension Commission (PenCom) (CPS).
Lagos, Osun, Kaduna, Delta, and the federal capital territory are the states (FCT).
In its latest report, titled “Status of implementation of the CPS by states and the FCT for the first quarter of 2022,” the agency revealed.
PenCom also announced that the 2022 online verification and enrollment exercise for retirees/potential retirees of Treasury-Funded Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) will begin on Monday, June 20, 2022.
Employees of federal government Treasury-funded MDAs who missed the previous year’s enrollment exercise will be covered by the online exercise.
PenCom advised all retirees and prospective retirees to visit their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and complete the data recapture exercise before enrolling.
According to a statement issued by PenCom yesterday, this entails retirees providing their personal information, including their National Identity Number (NIN), even though retirees and prospective retirees who had previously completed the data recapture exercise are not required to do so.
“Retirees/prospective retirees are required to visit PenCom’s website (www.pencom.com.ng) and upload their employment details as well as scanned copies of required documents before proceeding to their respective PFAs for physical verification and enrollment,” the regulator stated. The PenCom website has a step-by-step procedure for online enrollment.
“Similarly, retirees/prospective retirees who are unable to complete the online registration for any reason should contact their respective MDA’s Pension Desk Officer or visit their PFAs for assistance,” it stated, adding that “verification and enrollment by all concerned must be completed on or before August 31, 2022.”
Meanwhile, according to PenCom, 25 states have passed legislation allowing them to join the CPS. Only 15 states (Lagos, FCT, Osun, Kaduna, Delta, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Benue, Kebbi, Niger, Rivers, Ogun, Bayelsa, and Kogi) have set up pension bureaux/boards in accordance with the CPS.
The CPS is a system in which both the employer and the employee contribute to the payment of the employee’s retirement pension.
It is entirely funded by monthly pension contributions made to an employee’s retirement savings account (RSA), which is overseen by the pension fund administrator (PFA).
Despite enacting CPS legislation, the states of Anambra, Abia, Taraba, Imo, Sokoto, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Enugu, and Oyo have yet to establish a pension bureau to oversee the scheme’s implementation.
Eight states, namely Kwara, Plateau, Cross Rivers, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Katsina, and Yobe, were still in the process of drafting bills, according to the report. It means they have yet to enact a law on the CPS to guide the scheme’s implementation.
Jigawa, Kano, Gombe, and Zamfara states, on the other hand, have chosen to run their own pension plans.
During the quarter under review, PenCom said it held sensitization workshops, capacity-building programmes, and stakeholder engagement meetings.
It stated that it met with representatives of the Ekiti State Pension Commission (ESPC) to discuss the difficulties encountered in implementing the CPS in the state.
The commission also stated that it made presentations at the FCT Area Councils Staff Pension Board (ACSPB) pension management retreat in Akwanga, Nasarawa state, on the CPS implementation challenges, with an emphasis on uncredited contributions.
“The commission engaged the Rivers state government, expressing concern about the state’s inability to fully implement the CPS in the state, in light of the impending commencement of retirement of state employees under the CPS as of 1 June 2022,” it added.
“The commission also engaged the government of Ogun state on the state’s persistent non-remittance of pension contributions into the RSAs of state employees, in light of the fact that state employees would begin retiring under the CPS on July 1, 2025.”
