Pensioners Lament Difficulty in Accessing Retirement Benefits

James Emejo in Abuja

Pensioners have continued to express worry about the challenges they encounter in accessing their retirement benefits even under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The complaint came even as the National Pension Commission (Pencom) and industry operators deliberate on integrating about 49 million artisans and the micro pension plan of the federal government.

Speaking at the maiden annual pension conference organised by the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PENCAN) in Abuja, the National President, Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Mr. Godwin Abumisi, lamented the challenges inherent in both the formal and informal pension operations particularly the inability of contributors to access retirement benefits owing to what he described as stringent conditions attached to the process.

But the Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the commission had set up a framework for prompt payment of pensions without delays.

Represented at the conference by Assistant-General Manager, PenCom, Ibrahim Garba Buwai, Umar, also directed the PFAs to always ensure that requests from retirees are promptly settled.

She also sought the collaboration of the media to create the needed awareness for the adoption of the pension scheme for the benefit of self-employed, semi and unorganised informal sector operators.

She pointed out that the CPS remained the most successful pension initiative in recent times, evidenced by its asset growth from N2 trillion in 2014 to N15 trillion currently.

The Chief Executive, PenOp, Mr. Oguche Agudah, said the scheme offered a significant opportunity for workers in the informal sector to secure their future through retirement savings.

Represented by Project Management Lead, PenOp, Mayomikun Obadofin, he added that the micro scheme presented flexibility in contribution amounts and frequencies, provisions for withdrawing a portion of the savings for unforeseen emergencies, and the option to convert from an informal to a mandatory plan when securing formal employment.