About 18,524 disengaged workers in Nigeria have requested the withdrawal of the pension savings due to their inability to secure jobs between January and June this year.
The affected workers withdrew a total of N9.45 billion from their savings with their Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) after four months of failure to secure jobs, the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) revealed on Friday in its quarterly report.
The report stated that during the first quarter of 2021, “The commission granted approval for the payment of N5.02bn to 10,619 RSA holders under the age of 50 years, who were disengaged from work and unable to secure jobs within four months.
In the second quarter of the year, it said, “The commission approved the payment of N4.43bn to 7,906 RSA holders under the age of 50 years, who were disengaged from work and unable to secure jobs within four months.”
According to the Pension Reform Act 2014, employees who either left or lost their jobs and could not get another paid employment after four months could access 25 percent of the balance in their Retirement Savings Accounts.
To enhance compliance with the Contributory Pension Scheme during the second quarter, the commission said it carried out sensitisation workshops, capacity-building programmes and stakeholder engagement meetings.
It stated that the activities included a meeting with the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, to review the steps taken by the state towards implementing the CPS.
An interactive meeting with the newly constituted Bayelsa State Technical Committee on the Implementation of the CPS was also held, it said.
