Pension fund: N6.5trn not enough for retirees in future –Aremu

From Magnus Eze, Abuja

Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL), one of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), Comrade Issa Aremu, has challenged the in-coming leadership of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to scale up enrolment of Nigerians in the informal sector. He said the N6.5 trillion pension fund must be grown to meet the income adequacy of retirees in future.
Briefing the media in Abuja, yesterday the labour leader charged PenCom Acting Director General, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar and the DG designate, Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman, to build on the gains recorded by the past directors general, especially the immediate past DG, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, who grew the fund from N2.9 trillion in 2012 to over N6.5 trillion it is now.
He said: “The N6.5 trillion contributed, so far, can hardly meet the future income adequacy of retirees, which underscores the need for an intensified effort on the part of the incoming leadership.
“The major challenge is to ensure that all retirees under the scheme are paid their benefits as at when due.” He reasoned that the over six million workers already captured under the contributory pension scheme was a far cry from the over 80 million potential work force in Nigeria and, therefore, called for roll out of the Micro Pension Scheme, which framework had been initiated by the immediate past DG.
Aremu further said PenCom, under the last leadership, shored up the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) subscriptions from 5.39 million to 6.89 million within a period of three years.