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By Henry Uche
National Pension Commission (PenCom) has called on former employees of various defunct companies to approach their respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to reclaim N12billion in the Transition Contribution Funds (TCF).
Representing the Director-General of PenCom, Aisha Daniel-Umar, at a media parley put together by the Pension Fund Operators (PenOp), with the theme, ‘At the Dawn of 20 years of Pension Reform. What Are The Gains’’, Ehimeme Ohioma, Head of Investment Supervision Department of the Commission revealed that out of the N12billion, N58 million has been recovered and transferred to the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) of beneficiaries who provided necessary documents for payment.
Among the defunct companies are: Diamond Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Citizen Bank, Mainstream Bank (former Afribank), and Oceanic Bank, as the top entities whose workers are yet to claim their funds.
“Most of the beneficiaries are nowhere to be found. Where do we find them? We did a detailed analysis of these companies, and we found out that – they’re companies that have either merged with one another, acquired by a stronger company or that are not existing”
He said “So in September what the Commission did was to put a list of all the beneficiaries of its website according to each PFAs where these funds are located and we expect these people to go the website, search their names and approach the PFAs for payment.
“Employees of those companies should also search for their names in the website of their PFAs and approach them for more details, so that the money would be transferred to their Retirement Savings Account. I have to inform my friends who have funds there too since 2004, please let us get these funds to them, even if it is N200,000 a contributor receive, it will go a long way.”
Detailing the payment process, Ohioma clarified that PFAs are prohibited from making cash payments and must transfer funds to RSAs, particularly for individuals working in other institutions who already possess RSAs, “virtually most of them are working in other institutions and they have RSA so it can be transferred once they make documents available,” he said.
The discovery of unclaimed funds was attributed to recovery agents engaged by the commission, with the funds currently held by the PFAs.
He revealed that in other to have a credible Data Base of Contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme, a Data Recapture Exercise is ongoing though laced with some challenges, however the Commission is hopeful to see record a significant success by first quarter of 2024.
More so, he affirmed that PenCom and PenOp are working round the clock to reconcile and resolve long outstanding uncredited contributions of employees (owing to employers’ incomplete and inaccurate schedules received from different employers). He maintained that from September to October, about N22bn of those long outstanding contributions have been resolved and credited into the Retirement Savings Accounts of the beneficiaries.
Regarding pension payments under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), Ohioma assured that the commission consistently ensures pensioners receive their funds on or before the 25th of each month. He emphasized the importance of service delivery, stating that addressing contributors’ concerns is crucial for industry success.
Expressing concern about the limited investment windows for pension funds, he added that the commission is actively engaging stakeholders in the capital market to address these challenges.
