On Wednesday, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) revealed that some states had remitted N236.7 billion in pension contributions to the Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) from January 2020 through the second quarter of 2024.
This update was shared by Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, Acting Director-General of PenCom, at the Third Quarter 2024 Consultative Forum for States and the FCT, hosted by the Commission in Lagos.
The forum, as reported by the News Agency, assembled heads of Pension Bureaux, Boards, and Commissions overseeing the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
Also at the forum were heads of service and senior government officials of some states that had commenced implementation of the scheme.
Oloworaran said that, based on its records, 25 states including the FCT had enacted pension laws on the CPS, while six are preparing to pass the law.
She explained that six states had already adopted the Contributory Defined Benefits Scheme (CDBS).
According to her, only eight of the 25 states are fully implementing the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and enacted laws.
The acting director-general said further that the pension fund assets under the scheme had risen, with total Assets under Management soaring to N20.79 trillion as at July 2024.
“It will interest state governments to note that one of the significant benefits of adopting the CPS is access to accumulated pension funds for infrastructural development through issuance of state bonds.
“Indeed, five states, including Lagos, Niger, Osun, Ekiti and Delta, have successfully issued state bonds that were subscribed by pension funds, example Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge in Lagos,’’ she said.
She said the commission was committed to ensuring that all retirees from public and private sectors received their retirement benefits without delay.
Oloworaran, however, said the Commission would engage the states in a sustained manner and work towards expanding the coverage of the CPS at the subnational level.
“We will also intensify efforts with relevant state government agencies to resolve the backlog in accrued rights payments to CPS retirees.
“In addition, we will ensure that pensioners under the CPS and other pension arrangements benefit from pension increments as provided for in the Nigeria constitution,” she said.
The commission, starting from December 2025, will introduce a Recognition and Award System to incentivize and reward states for their pension reforms, the PenCom boss said.
She encouraged participants to contribute constructively to the forum’s discussions to support state governments in their roles in pension reform and implementation.
This article was written by Tamaraebiju Jide, a student at Elizade University
