Stakeholders elevate alarm, warn non-remitting organizations
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has recommended the collection of reforms within the sector, which has raised accumulations from contributors to N8trillion, in addition to brighter hopes to retirees.
It additionally has attributed the large accumulation and different successes achieved within the final 14 years of implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to contributors.
Meanwhile, regulators and stakeholders within the pension business have once more, warned employers within the behavior of not remitting pension deductions of the wrath of the legislation, because it plans elevate its searchlight and asks staff to additionally communicate up.
The Acting Director-General, Aisha Dahir-Umar, gave the indications on the pre-retirement workshop for potential retirees within the contributory pension commission in Lagos.
The PenCom boss, who was represented by the Commission’s Head Benefits and Insurance, Ekanem Aikhomu, known as on pension contributors throughout the nation to contribute positively in the direction of the expansion of the pension reform programme.
In an interview with The Guardian, on the workshop, she famous that the workshop is tailor-made in the direction of addressing the challenges that potential retirees would possibly face as they enter retirement life beneath the CPS.
However, she urged the would-be retirees to be happy to make ideas throughout and after the workshops, about points which will additional assist to make retirement life extra comfy to them and different future retirees.
“The achievements recorded by the commission for the reason that implementation of the scheme wouldn't have been doable with out the help and understanding of all stakeholders, particularly our contributors, who're about to retire.
“I therefore urged Nigerians to contribute positively towards the success of the Pension Reform Programme,” she stated.
The President, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOP) Aderonke Adedeji, advised The Guardian that the problem of non-compliance to remittance of staff’ pension fund into (RSA) has change into very difficult, at the same time as there are provisions within the legislation on the right way to deal with such.
Adedeji, who can also be the Managing Director of Leadway Pensure PFA Limited, famous that “considered one of these is that when you may have an employer who has not been remitting repeatedly, we're speculated to get the regulator knowledgeable about it.
“But earlier than we do this, we attempt to discover out what's accountable for such as a result of the implication of creating an official report is that it may result in one or two issues on your prospects.
“The legislation says that seven days after salaries are paid, deduction from workers’ salaries and employers needs to be remitted. So, when you may have a scenario the place an employer isn't making such remittances for 2, three, 4 months and above, we go there to ask why it's so.
“But when we find a situation where employers seem to be non-chalant, careless and things like that, we inform the regulator, and recovery agents to go to such employers to do all that are necessary to recover the debts,” she stated.
Also, the Acting Director-General, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, stated that the regulator is displeased with the collection of experiences of non-remittance of month-to-month pension, particularly by media proprietors.
She promised that very quickly, PenCom will start to beam its searchlight on erring media companies to make sure that they invested in the way forward for their staff.
Dahir-Umar famous that the essence of the brand new pension scheme is to make sure that contributors can nonetheless take pleasure in a good life at retirement from their sturdy RSAs and that signifies that each the employers and the workers should, on a month-to-month foundation, collectively contribute 18 per cent of their incomes into the RSA of journalists, which might accumulate with time to make them spend their retirement happier.
Aikhomu famous that as a part of the commission’s yearly regulatory actions, it has concluded preparations to begin the verification of potential retirees, who could be retiring in 2019, from the general public service.
The verification train, as she defined, is scheduled to be undertaken from June 25 to August 17, 2018, in 15 facilities throughout the nation.
Also, she careworn that the upcoming train necessitated the necessity to undertake ample sensitisation and public enlightenment to arrange potential retirees on the steps to take in the direction of a hitch free retirement life.
The potential retirees acquired lectures on: Enrolment train and documentation requirement from the paper offered by Deputy Zonal Head (South-West Zonal Office), PenCom, Sola Adeseun.
A member of the commission’s Benefit and Insurance Department, Ifedolapo Akinniyi, additionally mentioned the theme: “Accessing Retirement Benefits and Payment under the Contributory Pension Scheme,” whereas the Managing Partner, Averti Professional Managers, Inyang Sani Orungbe, took up the theme: “Life after Retirement.”