By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

NEARLY ten years into the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS following the Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2004, none of the five states in the South-East zone has implemented CPS for its workers.

In fact, Imo State that enacted its law on CPS in 2008 and appointed Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, to register its employees, has allegedly suspended implementation of the Scheme

Acting Director-General  of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, at the official opening of the South-East Zonal Office in Awka, Anambra State, regretted that the South-East zone, known to be peopled with highly industrious and possessing enterprising intellectuals was yet to take its rightful place in the adoption and implementation of the CPS.

A statement by Emeka Onuora, Head, Communication Unit, quoted the Acting DG as saying: “Three states namely, Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu  are yet to enact the law on the CPS. Imo State enacted its law on CPS in 2008 and appointed Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, to register its employees but information available to the Commission shows that Imo State has suspended implementation of the scheme.

Administrative structure

Anambra State only recently enacted its law on the scheme and is still expected to carry out the next necessary steps like setting up administrative structure, appointment of PFAs, registration of employees by the PFAs, remittances of pension contributions and determination of accrued pension liabilities of workers, among others.”

She appealed to states in the South-East Zone not to be left out of a national success story which the CPS had become.

The Acting DG reiterated that the commission was exploring the possibility of allowing contributors to utilize part of their Retirement Savings Account, RSA, balance to part-finance the acquisition of homes, pointing out that these facilities would be availed to states that have fully embraced the scheme.

PenCom, the South-East Zonal Office in Awka, Anambra State, located opposite Government House, Onitsha-Enugu Expressway was declared open by Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi.

The zonal office is the fourth to be formally opened among the Commission’s Zonal Offices in the six geo-political zones of the country. Three zonal offices had earlier been commissioned at Calabar for the South-South States, Ilorin for the North-Central States and Lagos for the South-West States.

The statement said PenCom embarked on the establishment of zonal offices in the six geo-political zones of the country to decentralize its activities and bring it closer to contributors and retirees.

According to the statement “With the Commission’s presence in the South-East Zone, stakeholders in the pension industry can now avail themselves of the commission’s services by visiting the zonal office to make enquiries, lodge complaints, and seek education on the CPS and request for sensitization and awareness on pension and pension related matters. Due to the commission’s renewed focus on efficient service, it seeks to reduce the need for contributors and retirees to travel from various parts of the country to Abuja for the singular reason of accessing the commission’s services.”

“In addition, the presence of the commission will facilitate closer interaction with the states’ pension offices by assisting them to comply with the Contributory Pension Scheme. The South-East zonal office in Awka has the mandate to effectively extend the commission’s services to all the five states in the zone namely; Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia.”

Mrs  Anohu-Amazu noted that the commission had remained steadfast in the implementation of the CPS such that within its few years of existence, “some modest achievements have been realised. Such achievements include the consistent payment of retirement benefits to employees who retired under the scheme since 2007 without the characteristic bottlenecks experienced in the past, the generation of investible funds of more than N3.72 trillion invested in various financial instruments and the registration of about 5.82 million contributors into the CPS.”

According to her, the commission had made an input into the process of a major amendment to the Pension Reform Act , PRA, 2004 currently at the final stages of consideration by the National Assembly.

The commission, she disclosed, had also established a “Call Centre” to enhance its service delivery through an efficient complaints resolution process.

Follow-up

Commissioning the office, Governor Peter Obi thanked PenCom for establishing the South-East  zonal office in Awka and assured that the state would follow-up on embracing the scheme.

In his goodwill message, Senate Committee Chairman on Establishments and Public Service Matters, Dr Alloysius Etok, restated the National Assembly’s   commitment to reforms in the pension industry.

He added that the report on the proposed amendment of the PRA 2004 had been submitted to the National Assembly for further consideration.

Similarly, a Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,  and General Secretary of the National Union Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN,  Mr. Issa Aremu,  represented by  NUTGTWN’s’ Deputy Secretary, Chimezie Sylvester, commended the commission for establishing zonal offices that would bring it closer to contributors and retirees.