‎States must contribute to pension protection fund to benefit from minimum pension — PenCom DG

‎–It is big shame for some state retirees to be paid ₦5,000’ ‎‎By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ‎‎ABUJA — The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms. Omolola Bridget Oloworaran, said on Tuesday that states must contribute to the Pension Protection Fund before they can become eligible for the minimum pension. ‎‎She stated this at the official launch of the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme and the unveiling of PenCare, a pension industry-funded healthcare initiative designed to provide low-income retirees with access to essential medical services free of charge. ‎‎The event was held at the Old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja. ‎She said about 170,000 retirees are expected to receive the minimum pension of ₦52,500, including those who were previously receiving less than that amount. ‎‎“Every eligible retiree who earns below ₦52,500 will be uplifted to ₦52,500.

So, of course, as I said, there is no discrimination if you are within the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). ‎‎“However, there is an eligibility criterion at the same level. We are making it a requirement that states must contribute to the Pension Protection Fund before they can be eligible for the minimum pension. ‎‎“So, we will work out that modality at the state level because we all know that the fund needs to be sustainable.

If people are not contributing, we will run out of funds, and we cannot start a laudable initiative like this and then, years from now, somebody says it has stopped working because people are not contributing. ‎‎“So, we are working on modalities for the states to start contributing. But, as of now, it does not apply only to federal workers. Even private-sector workers are receiving these minimum pensions. ‎‎“As I said in my speech, 54 per cent of the total number of retirees who fall below the minimum pension work in the private sector, even though the private sector is not the majority employer.

Essentially, 65 per cent or more of private-sector retirees are earning less than ₦52,500. ‎‎“So, when we tell them to contribute to the Pension Protection Fund, there is a reason for that. They form a large chunk of the money we need.” ‎‎On whether anything was being done to ensure that retirees from states also benefit from the minimum pension, as some of them still receive about ₦5,000 monthly, the PenCom DG said it was shameful to pay someone such an amount, although she doubted whether any state actually paid such a paltry sum. ‎‎“Frankly, that is a big shame.

What we have done is that we have started working with the states to ensure that they pay retirement benefits to their retirees and also put a plan in place to review pensionable inflation. ‎‎“I mean, receiving ₦5,000 is unacceptable. I do hope it is not true. I will ask my team to confirm. ‎‎“But ultimately, what we are trying to do is get all the states into the scheme.

Once you get into the scheme and start contributing to the Pension Protection Fund, the fund can protect the retirees of those who participate.” ‎‎She expressed joy that many Nigerians, especially retirees, had started receiving the minimum pension. ‎She also said that the Commission had given healthcare cards to some people to test the system before the official launch. ‎‎“Because, before you pilot something, you want to test it with a group of people to make sure that it is working as intended.

So, it has been rolled out, and Nigerians can now go into a hospital and enjoy free healthcare. ‎‎“So, as I said, what we did today was symbolic. But from today, anybody who does not have their card can go to their PFA and request one.” ‎‎Answering a question on why the Commission decided to launch the service when elections were forthcoming, and whether it was not a plot to influence voters, the DG said she did not involve herself in politics. ‎‎She rhetorically asked: “Is there ever a bad time to do good for ordinary Nigerians, to put a smile on people’s faces?

And you know, I do not get involved in politics. I never talk about politicians or anything political. We just do our work.” ‎‎She said PenCom was only a regulator. ‎“We do not get involved in politics at all. You can ask my people. But my response to that will be: every day you wake up, we try to see what we can do to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

When we did the pension boost last year, there was no election. ‎‎“She also said that the Commission had paid a ₦32,000 consequential increase last year when there was no election. ‎‎“It is not something that is geared towards the election. It just happens to be coming at this point. In fact, this was supposed to be done in September when we were expecting the President himself to attend, but the industry said we needed to do some other things, and we shifted Pension Week to October. ‎‎“You will notice that we had said this was going to be done in October, but we could not do it then.

So, we shifted it from September to October because of the industry. Later, we decided to