FG to Clear Outstanding Pension Liabilities, Remove Delays in Fund Releases

James Emejo in Abuja

The Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Omolola Oloworaran, has said concerted efforts have reached advanced stages to clear all outstanding pension liabilities of the federal government under the Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS).

Oloworaran, also said there are plans to put in place lasting solutions that will address the problems of inadequate funding and delay in fund releases for the payment accrued rights.

Speaking at the opening of the 2nd annual conference of the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PENCAN), with the theme, “20 Years of Pension Reform Act: Gains, Challenges, and Prospects,” in Abuja, she also decried the delay in the payment of accrued pension rights for the retires of treasury funded MDAs.

The PenCom boss said, “Although the current delay in the payment of retirees’ accrued rights negates the cardinal objective of the CPS of payment of retirement benefits as and when due, I would like to assure you that this situation will soon be resolved.”

She was represented by PenCom Head, Corporate Communications, Mr. Ibrahim Buwai.

Oloworaran said the consistent accumulation of pension fund assets since commencement of the CPS remained a key performance indicator, especially considering the estimated N2 trillion pension liabilities prior to June 2004.

She pointed out that this clear transformation resulted in the rise of total Pension Fund Assets under management to N20.87 trillion as at July 2024.

The PenCom DG attributed the remarkable growth to sound regulation and stringent oversight by the commission.

Also, listing the achievements of the CPS over the years, Chief Executive Officer, Pension Funds Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr. Ogwuche Aguda, disclosed that N1.12 trillion had been paid out in lump sums to 357,310 retirees over the past 15 years through programmed withdrawals and annuities, pointing out that the figure reflected the scale of the CPS and its impact on pensioners across the country.

He said N247.47 billion had been disbursed to 483,464 Nigerians who withdrew 25 per cent from their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) after losing their jobs.