NATIONAL Pension Commission, PenCom, yesterday in Lagos, said the nation’s total pension asset, had risen above N4.5 trillion.
Director-General of PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, who disclosed this at a conference on Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2014, organized by the commission for stakeholders in the South-West, said it was heartwarming that within a decade of the pension reform and the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, modest achievements were recorded by PenCom.
Director-General of PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, who disclosed this at a conference on Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2014, organized by the commission for stakeholders in the South-West, said it was heartwarming that within a decade of the pension reform and the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, modest achievements were recorded by PenCom.
She said: “Payment of pension under the CPS is now prompt and consistent since 2007. From a story of about N2 trillion pension deficits under the defunct Defined Benefit Scheme as at 2004, the CPS has accumulated a large pool of investible fund of over N4.5 trillion pension assets as at June 2014. More than 6.2 million contributors have been registered into CPS since inception. Recently, PenCom hosted the World Pension Summit, Africa Special, in Abuja. The summit did not only provide a platform for exchange of ideas on global best practices in pension administration but also showcased the achievements of the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria within the last decade.
“However, as it is the case with every human endeavour, the PRA 2004 was not perfect. Thus, the experience and lessons gathered in the last 10 years of implementation of the pension reforms necessitated amendments to the PRA 2004. After an extensive review and stakeholder consultations, a bill for the repeal of the 2004 Act and reenactment of a new Pension Reform Act was forwarded by the President to the National Assembly in April 2013. The Bill went through legislative consideration and scrutiny after which it was passed by the National Assembly in April 2014. The President assented to the Bill on July 1, 2014, thereby bringing into effect, the Pension Reform Act 2014. Accordingly, the purpose of this conference is to sensitize our major stakeholders in the South-West geopolitical zone, on the new provisions and developments ushered in by the Pension Reform act, 2014.”
She added that the PRA 2014 re-enacted the copious provisions of the repealed 2004 Act, “which include, inter alia, the establishment of the Contributory Pension Scheme as well as the National Pension Commission as the sole regulator and supervisor of Pension matters in Nigeria.”
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