Operators in the Pension industry have applauded the National
Pension Commission (PenCom) on its concluded plans to establish six
zonal offices across the country.
The commission is said to have perfected plans to open offices in Gombe, Kano, Ilorin, Calabar and Akwa Ibom states.
Sources close to PenCom said the development is one of the strategies
mapped out by the commission to deepen knowledge and awareness of
pension benefit across the country.
According to the source, the commission would through the zonal
offices educate people on the need and importance of pension and why it
is necessary to save for old age.
According to the source, each zonal office will be in charge of pension activities in five states. Also it will
handle problems of workers and retirees within the zone and bring PenCom close to the people.
Commenting on the development, Kanu Mba, a pensioner with Universal
Still Limited Lagos, said that the planned establishment of more
branches by the commission would help bring pension matters closer to
the people.
According to him; “This is the best thing that has ever happened to
us. We don’t need to go to Abuja every time we have a problem”.
He said that the establishment of the zonal offices would help
sensitise the public about pension, adding that a lot of pensioners were
ignorant of what the law says about the contributory pension scheme.
Mba also called on the commission to persuade the Pension Fund
Administrators (PFAs) to open more offices in all the states, adding
that not all the PFAs in the country have branches in the 36 states of
the federation.
He explained that the efforts of the commission must be complemented
by the PFAs, adding that the more the branches, the more the awareness
in the grassroots.
He however called on PenCom to publish names of employers who had
registered under the contributory pension scheme but failed to remit the
monthly contributions deducted from employees’ remuneration into their
retirement savings accounts.
Meanwhile, a manager with Trustfund Pensions, Mika Adah, was of the
opinion that the move by the commission was a welcome development in the
pension industry.
He said that the commission had been employing different approaches,
including public enlightenment, to entice employers to embrace voluntary
compliance, media campaign and collaboration with regulatory and
professional bodies.
Also, he assured the public that the commission would recover the
unremitted funds from the defaulters with interest as penalty through
legal means.
The Pension Reform Act 2004 was established by law and the law states
that there shall be established for any employment in the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, a Contributory Pension Scheme (in this Act referred
to as “the Scheme”) for payment of retirement benefits of employees to
whom the Scheme applies ‘under this Act.
Subject to Section 8 of this Act, the Scheme shall apply to all
employees in the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital
Territory and the Private Sector in the case of the Public Sector, who
are in employment; and in the case of the Private Sector, who are in the
employ of an organisation, in which there are five or more employees.
