The National Pension Scheme (PenCom) has stated that 118,044 retirees have withdrawn the remaining funds in their accounts because of low balances in their accounts.
The commission stated that it gave approval for the payment of all RSAs of retirees who had N550,000 and below in their accounts.
According to the commission, the sum of N29.26 billion was withdrawn by retirees, leaving the Contributory Pension Scheme due to low balances available in their accounts.
It stated that the withdrawals were due to factors such as employers not remitting RSAs into the retirees’ PFAs and foreigners who had left Nigeria to their country.
In its quarterly report, the commission stated that it had also granted payment of RSA balances into the accounts of foreigners who have chosen to leave Nigeria.
It said, “The commission granted approval for the payment of the entire RSA balances of the categories of retirees whose RSA balances were N550,000 or below and considered insufficient to procure a programmed withdrawal or annuity of a reasonable amount over an expected lifespan.
“Approval was also granted for payment of RSA balances to foreign nationals who decided to return to their home countries after making contributions under the CPS.”
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The commission’s payment of funds of RSAs below N500,000 is in accordance with the Pension Reform Act that states that any retiree that has anything less than N550,000 in their account should be refunded.
PenCom, in its report, stated that it hunted down employers that refused to remit deducted funds of employees from their salaries.
In its hunt, the commission said that the sum of N261.33 million was recovered from 16 employers.
It added that from the month of June 2020, it had recovered the sum of N17.52 billion, which is an aggregate of a principal contribution of N8.89 billion, with the defaulters paying N8.62 billion.
“This brought the total recoveries made from inception to 30 June 2020 to 17.52bn comprising principal contribution of N8.89bn and penalty of N8.62bn,” it stated.
