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From Uche Usim, Abuja
Henceforth, Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) who disregard the provisions of the pension regulation on prompt payment of benefits to retirees would be peppered by commensurate sanctions.
The Director General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar reiterated this in Abuja on Thursday at a workshop for journalists.
She said the move draws strength from the revised regulation on retirement and terminal benefits released in April for immediate implementation.
The regulation simplifies some difficulties and guides the process of accessing retirement and terminal benefits by pension contributors and retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
It represents the first comprehensive review of the regulation since its initial issuance in 2007.
Some key highlights of the revised regulation include, clarifications and simplification of documentation processes, RSA consolidation before payments of retirement benefits, accrued pension benefits for private sector contributors, and additional lump sum payments.
The revised regulation also contains several new provisions on pension enhancement, voluntary Contributions, payment under the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), payment of benefits of missing persons, and payment of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) benefits.
Represented by Head, corporate communications Mr. Abdulquadir Mustapha, she said the choice of topic theme: “Increasing Informal Sector Participation in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS): The case for Micro Pension Plan” aligns with the Commission’s objective of expanding coverage of the CPS.
He said the aim was to bring into the CPS, Nigerians working in the Informal Sector and those who are Self Employed through the Micro Pension Plan (MPP).
“Therefore, it is of utmost importance to educate the media on the MPP and enlist your support to make the Plan popular amongst informal sector workers and the self-employed”, she said.
According to Pencom DG, Micro Pension Plan (MPP) remains one of the important areas of focus of the Commission conceptualised to expand pension coverage to the informal sector, including small-scale businesses, entertainers, professionals, petty traders, artisans, and entrepreneurs.
“The MPP was implemented to curb old-age poverty by assisting the workers, as mentioned above, to contribute while working and build long-term savings to fall back on when they become old. To boost confidence in the participation of the MPP, the Commission is strategising to provide incentives such as health insurance”.
She recalled some of the regulatory decisions taken recently which included increasing Minimum Regulatory Capital (Shareholders’ Fund) requirements of PFAs from N1 billion to N5 billion last year. The recapitalisation exercise, she explained, had a 12-month transition from April 27 2021, to April 27 2022.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on April 27, 2019 officially launched the Micro Pension Plan as part of his administration’s efforts at ensuring that Nigerians who worked hard during their active years in service of their fatherland live in dignity and retire without any cause for alarm.
The Micro Pension Plan was initiated by the National Pension Commission to incorporate workers in the informal sector of the economy.
Since the launch of the MPP in March 2019 by Buhari, over 72,846 contributors had been registered by Pension Fund Administrators.
The Micro Pension Scheme targets the significant majority of Nigeria’s working population who, incidentally, operate in the informal sector.
The MPP was conceptualised to expand pension coverage to the informal sector, including small-scale businesses, entertainers, professionals, petty traders, artisans, and entrepreneurs.
