The Nation Newspaper

Category: Pension

  • Pension reform: so far, so good

    The 15-year-old pension reform has continued to live up to workers’expectation, allowing them to withdraw 25 per cent of their pension when they lose their jobs, Omobola Tolu-Kusimo reports.

    For workers who lost their jobs, the Pension Reform Act 2004, repealed by PRA 2014, is  good legislation.

    The law allows disengaged workers who lose their jobs to get 25 per cent of their pension, if they are unable to secure another one within four months.

    Since 2004, no fewer than 324,141 disengaged workers have benefited from this law with N113.21 billion paid to them.

    The Acting Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, in an interview, said approval was granted for the payment of N5.28 billion to 10,673 RSA holders who were under 50 but were disengaged from work and unable to secure another job within four months in the second quarter of this year.

    She said: “The cumulative total number of RSA holders who were paid benefits for temporary loss of job was 324,141 and were paid a total of N113,21 billion being 25 percent of the balances of their RSAs as prescribed by the Pension Reform Act 2014.

    “A further analysis showed that the private sector accounted for 95.33 percent of those who benefited from these payments while the public sector accounted for 4.67 percent.

    “The PRA 2004 was repealed and replaced in 2014 by the PRA 2014, which, among other things, enhanced the benefits accruable to the contributor upon retirement, enhanced the protection of pension fund assets, unlocked the opportunities for the deployment of pension assets for national development, reviewed the sanctions regime to reflect current realities, provided for the participation of the informal sector and also expanded the coverage of the scheme to include employees of states and local governments.

    “The key objective of the scheme is to ensure that every person who has worked in either the public or private sector receives his/her retirement benefits as and when due. It also aims at assisting improvident individuals by ensuring that they save to cater for their livelihood during old age; establish a uniform set of rules and regulations for the administration and payment of retirement benefits in both the public and private sectors; stem the growth of outstanding pension liabilities; and reduce fiscal cost to government, stimulate domestic savings, generate pool of long-term funds for developmental projects and increase private investments.”

    She said these objectives have been significantly achieved within the 14 years of the reform.The reform has gained public confidence and acceptability within the short period of its implementation.The private sector, which hitherto was apprehensive of the scheme as a ploy by the public sector to raise funds to address its huge pension liabilities, has come to accept and is religiously implementing the reform.

    “The CPS has also introduced transparency and integrity in the pension administration system in Nigeria. From inception of the reform to date, there had not been a single incidence of fraud or mismanagement of the pension funds and assets under the scheme,” she said.

  • PTAD’s Executive Secretary assumes duty

    The New Executive Secretary (ES), Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, has assumed duty after an official handover by her predecessor, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, now Minister of State for Environment.

    The minister praised PTAD workers for their support and hard work, which she said, had helped to make the directorate a better agency.

    She urged the workers to continue to maintain the high standards already set and cooperate with the new ES.

    Mrs. Ikeazor listed the successes  recorded and the challenges faced by the directorate during her tenure. She urged her successor to be courageous and work for the welfare of pensioners for her tenure to be remembered for good.

    In her response,  Ejikeme praised Mrs Ikeazor and PTAD workers  for the good job they have been doing. She promised to build on the solid foundation laid and vowed to uphold the rights and welfare of the pensioners and workers.

    She appealed for commitment  from the management and workers of the Directorate.

    Mr. Babagana Kaigama, director, Corporate Services, pledged the support and commitment of the management and workers of the directorate to the new ES.

  • PenCom ex-DG seeks consumer-friendly products

    The pioneer Director-General (DG), National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mohammad Ahmed, has called on operators to come up with financial products that will meet the needs of Nigerians in the informal sector.

    Ahmed, who spoke at the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents’ (NAIPCO) Fourth National Conference in Lagos, expressed concern that notwithstanding the existence of the Micro Insurance and Pension Scheme,  majority of Nigerians who are in the informal sector, a critical segment in the country do not have access to financial services.

    He, therefore, urged that operators must understand the dynamics of the informal sector, saying they must be creative, innovative and proactive to penetrate the informal sector.

    He said regulators must come up with light schemes, saying:  “You must understand the business and ensure that information is made available to the operators and consumers as well.’’

    He added: “We don’t just issue regulations, we should issue them to protect and promote the business. We are there to support the industry with regulations that can make the sector grow. If there is no business, there is nothing to regulate, thus regulations should be supportive.”

  • Boko Haram: Centre rubbishes Human Rights Watch report, raises three unanswered question

     

    The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has garbaged a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) which alleged that children are arbitrarily detained in detention facilities in the North-East.

     

    In a 50-page report released on Tuesday, the controversial New York-based non-governmental organization portrayed the Nigerian military as the villain in the fight against insurgency despite obvious intensifying efforts to ensure lasting peace in the region.

     

    The poorly-documented piece has sparked outrage among Nigerians, especially those in the know about the gallant troops’ exploits in the last four years.

     

    In a press conference held in Abuja on Tuesday, CESJET through its Executive Secretary, Comrade Ikpa Isaac, joined other Nigerians in condemning what it described as “blackmail” based on “unfounded allegations”.

     

    The Centre threw up three questions HRW failed to answer in it’s supposed in-depth report.

     

    CESJET wondered the rationale behind the timing of the piece when Boko Haram and its various iterations are struggling to justify all the funds received from sponsors as they are rarely in the news these days.

     

    The Centre also questioned HRW’s mission for lumping together detention units with rehabilitation programmes marks while missing to acknowledge the roles of indigenous groups to improve the conditions in the area.

     

    CESJET, however, urged compatriots and the rest of the world to join in trashing the Human Rights Watch’s report into a garbage bin as that is where it rightfully belongs.

     

    Read full statement below:

     

    We expect that you would have by now had access to and read the latest addition to the world’s collection of fictions by Human Rights Watch, which was appropriately titled “They Didn’t Know if I Was Alive or Dead”. The 50 page report is anchored on unfounded allegations that the Nigerian military is detaining underage Boko Haram fighters.

     

    Several factors are interesting about this report but we shall limit ourselves to a few of them because there is the inherent danger of unnecessarily promoting a work of fiction and elevating it into the realm of fact in the course of highlighting its shortcomings to the populace.

     

    The first thing we want to draw attention to is the timing of the report, which is coming at a time when Boko Haram and its various iterations are struggling to justify to their sponsors the merit of receiving continuous funding because they no longer make the news in any impressive or profound way. This in part explains why the terrorist group is desperate in attacking military formations so that it can continue to lay claims to exploit and consequently the allowances and remittances it is being owed by those propping it up against the Nigerians state.

     

    This strategy of shopping for incriminating anecdotal concoctions against the Nigerian military is a strategy that Amnesty International, a leading antagonist of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and key supporter of terrorists in the country, had repeatedly deployed without success. It is disappointing that Human Rights Watch is now replicating the same strategy without modification after Amnesty International that originally owned the approach of discrediting the military to give traction to terrorists has given up on it.

     

    The intention of the report is to garner sympathy for Boko Haram fighters while painting the military as an organization that incarcerate, torture and dehumanize children. The military is meant to become distracted in its war against terrorism especially since it will now be compelled to ignore the bulk of Boko Haram fighters are usually youths that just went past their teenage years. Besides slowing down the fight against terrorism, making exception for this population bracket will prove fatal for troops for those in the post-teenage age band have proven to be most ferocious and deadly. The fact that poor nutrition that resulted in stunted growth gives them the appearance of children does not imply that they behave with the innocence of children.

     

    Troops’ units that have in the past made the mistake of treating hardened terrorists as children have tales to tell.

     

    The second issue to draw attention to is the decision of Human Rights Watch to lump together detention units with rehabilitation programmes marks a new low in the extent that some foreign owned outlets will go to justify extorting donors that fund their programmes. Had the group looked beyond the dollar signs that is clouding the eyes of its decision makers it would have realized that its claim of the Nigerian military using kids as prisoners in the name of Boko Haram is another cheap blackmail that Nigerians have now become familiar with as coming from foreign agents bent on destabilizing Nigeria. Such claim is part of the technical support that has been promised as a clandestine means to embolden Boko Haram when its obvious they can no longer sustain their evil against the Nigerian state.

     

    Thirdly, the only aspects that should have been of concern to Human Rights Watch at the exact issues it shied away from. Other local or indigenous groups that have worked in the areas affected by Boko Haram have done much to improve on the conditions in the area through genuine humanitarian work. But Human Rights Watch has not done anything to address its discovery of a so call harsh interrogation of children, and that is assuming that it is genuinely interested in the wellbeing of children. For instance, it supposedly documented the lack of adequate sanitary facilities at detention centres without even running a pilot programme with one cell to demonstrate the quality of facilities it deems acceptable. The implication is that it is more interested in watching human suffering and misery than addressing them. The obsession is with writing reports, doctored reports that serve fake news, instead of taking practical steps that solve identified problems.

     

    We would have also loved for Human Rights Watch similarly failed to be realistic by asking that children that are freed from detention should be handed over to civilian judicial authorities, forgetting that some of them were in custody as per court rulings. It really wants to help it should come up with plans to have children caught up on the wrong side of the conflict relocated to third party countries where they will be far away from the harrowing reality of relieving the difficult moments and experiences the group claimed they have had. But Human Rights Watch is in no condition to do this when its entire report is built on lies. It is largely make-believe literature founded mostly on lies.

     

    CESJET is, therefore, calling on the Nigerian authorities and the rest of the world to throw the Human Rights Watch’s report into a garbage bin because that is where it rightfully belongs. Perhaps some measure of originality might have mitigated the situation such that some lines in the document would have been salvageable but the manner it copied an old format that has failed to record any success paints those that who issued the report are as lazy and unimaginative. It would not be out of place for those that paid this NGO to do a hatchet job suddenly start demanding for refund.

     

  • Pension complaints and solutions

    Okoroafor: I am Mrs. Okoroafor. My late husband Mr Okoroafor was with Stanbic IBTC Pension. His last work place, before he passed away on June 22, 2013, was the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters, Abuja. We have done everything possible, but have not received any payment in the last five years since his death. The details are attached2

    STANBIC IBTC PENSION: With regards to your enquiry on the payment of the late Mr Okoroafor‘s benefits, we would like to clarify the following: That a prerequisite for processing payments due to public sector employees (retired/deceased) is the remittance of the accrued pension benefits attributed to such employees by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) as well as the reconciliation of their Retirement Savings Account (RSA). That the late Mr Okoroafor worked with the Nigerian Immigration Service prior to his demise, hence, a request was made by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited to the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for the remittance of his accrued pension benefits and the reconciliation of his RSA upon submission of the notification documents by his beneficiary.

    Upon receipt of the deceased’s benefits from PenCom, efforts were made to contact the beneficiary, Mrs Okoroafor, via her mobile number on our database without success. At the moment, we are yet to receive the death benefits application documents from the beneficiary to enable us seek payment approval from PenCom.

    We request that you kindly assist in informing Mrs Okoroafor to visit the nearest Stanbic IBTC Pension office to submit the documents listed on the attached checklist to apply for payment.

    OYEKALE: I registered with Stanbic IBTC Pension, but my money is going to ARM Pension Manager, which I did not register with. My request is that they should transfer my money with interest to Stanbic IBTC.

    PENCOM: Please visit your PFA to undergo data recapturing to solve this issue.

    MRS OGENE: My name is Mrs Bridget, wife and next-of-kin to the late Ogene, who died on September 15, 2011. Until his death, he served in the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mabushi, Abuja for 28 years. Till date, the group life insurance has not been paid. I was directed to the Head of Service for payment and all required documents were submitted. Whenever I called, I was told that the government has not released money for payment. Many files have been approved for payment at each PFA and my name is not among them. I have been waiting since 2011. Kindly help me.

    PENCOM: Please contact the office of the Head of Service for payment of your late husband’s Group Life.

    EKELEME: I work with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and I registered with First Guarantee Pension. I have not received any update on my pension since 2013. Please what can I do? Their website is not too good. Thanks.

    PENCOM: Please contact the nearest First Guarantee Pension office (PFA) to you and notify them of this. They can be reached on 012715505.

    REUBEN: I was promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) after the pension verification on July 20, 2017.  I sent my  evidence of promotion dated  December 15,  2017 after the verification through Southsouth Zonal Office of  your commission in Calabar, Cross-River State. But I was paid below my grade and step. What can I do?

    PENCOM: Please we would require your PIN in order for us to assist you further.

    OLAYORI: My name is Olayori Oladapo Fasiu. I am a retiree of the National Assembly Commission.  I worked as a Legislative Aide to a former Senator. We left the National Assembly in 2011 and I have been collecting N7872.87 monthly as pension. However, since last November, the payment has stopped. My pension company is IEI Anchor Pensions. It would be appreciated if you could assist to find out why the payment was stopped. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

    PENCOM: Please we would require your PIN in order for us to assist you further.

    ABDULSALAM: My name is Abdulsalam, a staff member of Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA). I have been with Stanbic IBTC PFA since its inception but just this month my pension fund was transferred to Leadway Pension without my authorisation. Please what can I do because I want IBTC as pension manager.

    PENCOM: Please visit your PFA to undergo data recapturing to solve this issue.

     FATIMEHIN: My name is Fatimehin. I am the next-of-kin to the late Mrs fatimehin. She passed away on July 10, 2014. She was a staff member of Federal Polytechnic, Offa. Her PFA is Leadway Pensure in which little amount of money was paid in May 2017 and since then, nothing has been paid again. All the documents requested have been submitted.

    PENCOM: Please note that the Accrued Right was paid under Deceased Batch No. 47 in May 2017. You may please contact your PFA.

  • PenCom inspects Edo pension board, bureaux, others

    The National Pension Commission has conducted the maiden inspection of the pension arrangements in Edo State and its agencies.

    The inspection, according to the commission, was aimed at ascertaining the level of implementation of the CPS as well as the administration of the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) in the state.

    The commission in its First Quarter 2019 Summary Report, stated that they also conducted an inspection of the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) branches operating in Edo State.

    The report read: “The inspection was to determine the extent to which staff of the PFAs were conversant with the provisions of the Edo State Contributory Pension Law and extant regulations and guidelines issued by the Commission, the level of compliance of the PFAs with the Commission’s circular on minimum requirement for opening of branches and service centers as well as the quality of services rendered to stakeholders.

    “The Commission further conducted routine inspections of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Pension Board and the FCT Area Council Staff Pension Board. The purpose of the inspections was to ascertain the level of implementation of the CPS as well as the administration of the DBS in the FCT and Area Councils.”

    Giving update on engagements with the state governments on the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the commission said it continued its engagement with state governments on the implementation of the CPS.

    “The Commission held series of meetings with the management and staff of Ondo State Pension Commission (OSPEC), the Committee on the Implementation of the CPS in Ondo State, the Management and Staff of the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC) as well as officials of the Ondo State Local Government Service Commission.

    “The meeting was convened to discuss some of the challenges in the implementation of the CPS in the state. The issues discussed include, provision of Information and Communications Technology infrastructure especially the deployment of appropriate applications by OSPEC, provision of Group Life Insurance Policy, capacity building for staff, non-conduct of a actuarial valuation to determine the past service liabilities of the employees, non-creation and funding of the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund (RBBRF) Account, irregular deduction and remittance of pension contributions for employees of the state.

    “The commission also held a meeting with the Technical Committee on Pension, Kano State. The meeting was convened to address the issue of non-remittance of pension contributions and inability of Kano State Pension Fund Trustees to pay retirement benefits as at when due.

    “In the same vein, the commission conducted the First Quarter 2019 Consultative Forum for states and the FCT.  The event was attended by representatives of all states and the FCT, States and Local Governments Pension Bureau, Compliance Officers of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodian, (PFCs).”

    The Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, explained that the commission’s principal aim is to monitor the status of implementation of the CPS in the states and local governments.

    She said that by so doing, they will be able to help the states in areas that they consider as challenging.

    She stressed that some states have issues and challenges that they are trying to overcome to be able to join the scheme but they are working to help hasten the implementation of the CPS in the various states.

  • Renzi pledges funds for higher pensions, earlier retirement

    Italy will set aside six billion euros ($6.73 billion) over the next three years to increase pensions and allow people to retire earlier, the welfare minister has said, rowing back on a pension reform passed in 2012.

    The announcement comes as Prime Minister Matteo Renzi struggles to boost his popularity ahead of a December referendum on constitutional reform on which he has staked his career.

    Former prime minister Mario Monti sharply hiked the retirement age when Italy was in the front line of the euro zone debt crisis in 2012, a move that helped calm markets but was deeply unpopular with Italians.

    Welfare Minister Giuliano Poletti said after meeting trade unions that the 6 billion euros would boost the pensions of retired people currently receiving less than 1,000 euros per month and allow certain types of workers to retire earlier.

    Poletti said details of the operation, which will cost less than 2 billion euros in 2017, would be provided in the 2017 budget to be presented by October  20.

    Italy spends more public money on pensions than any other EU country, around 16 percent of its gross domestic product.

    Earlier this year Renzi announced a scheme allowing workers to retire at 63 instead of 67, but the plan got an icy reception because the pensions taken earlier would have to be funded by bank loans to be paid back with interest.

    However, on Wednesday Poletti said people with particularly tiring jobs, as well as the unemployed and those on low incomes would be allowed to retire at 63 without having to pay back any money.

  • ‘PenOp, PenCom fine tuning minimum pension law’

    The umbrella body of pension fund operators, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), is working closely with the regulator, National Pension Commission (PenCom) on modalities for establishing Minimum Pension Guarantee for contributors of pension fund, PenOp Head, Branding Committee, Wale Odutola has said.

    The Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 amended the PRA 2004 law to provide for Minimum Pension Guarantee to Retirement Savings Account RSA) holders.

    Section 82(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 provided for the establishment of Pension Protection Fund for the establishment of Minimum Pension Guarantee for contributors. The Minimum Pension Guarantee shall be determined from time to time by PenCom and paid by PFAs to qualified retirees.

    Odutola, who is also the Managing Director of ARM Pensions, spoke during the association’s media quarterly briefing held in Lagos.

    He said PenCom has initiated the process of establishing the pension protection fund for minimum pension guarantee.

    He said: “The process was only just initiated for the pension industry and we expect that it will take time for all the modalities of the initiative agreed upon at the industry level, and then it will be implemented.

    “We feel that this development has far reaching implication for the industry and for that reason, PenCom is also being mindful of how it will develop. The commission is working with the operators to ensure that the establishment of the Pension Protection Fund as well as the Minimum Pension Guarantee is one that is run in an orderly manner and not detrimental to both contributors and operators in the industry”, he noted.

  • Pension complaints and solutions

    SUNDAY: I retired in June 2003 from National Clearing and Forwarding Agency. I received my pension from March 2008 to April 2018. The     pension was stopped after April and I don’t know why. Please help me.

    PTAD: If Mr Eshiet has been verified, we advise that he sends a clearly scanned copy of his verification slip to complaints@ptad.gov.ng. If he has not been verified, he can visit our Abuja or Lagos office with his employment documents, BVN and original stamped bank statement from April 2018 till date to be verified and monthly pension payment resumed, if eligible.

    MRS ONIYE: I retired from  the Federal Government College, Idoani in April,1999, as Grade 2 Typist, G.L 5 Step 10. My gratuity was paid on June 7, 2007. I have not been paid any monthly pension. Please help  contact the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) on non-payment of my monthly pension since 1999.

    PTAD: The pensioner is advised to send her complaint, name and account details to complaints@ptad.gov.ng. Her telephone number as provided is not reachable.

    BENJAMIN: I retired in 2006 under the old NEPA/PHCN and by transition from NELMCO to PTAD. My monthly pension of January and March 2015 were omitted.I visited PTAD five times and did all what I was told to do but each time I went there, they would tell me ‘no fund’ Please intervene for me.

    PTAD: The pensioner is required to submit his bank statement from July 2014 to date to PTAD Office Abuja including his complaint to enable us investigate and resolve his complaint.

    ISA: I am  one of the pre-1996 Railway pensioners in Nasarawa State. Our 18 months arrears (part of 52 months) since the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan are yet to be cleared. Also, railway pensioners are the least paid nationwide. Kindly use your good office to solve our problems.

    PTAD: It is an assumed liability by some group of pensioners in the NRC. The group is yet to forward any supporting documents.

    STEVEN: I am a retired teacher from Ifako International School. I was receiving N24,684.76 as pension but since 2003, nothing has been given to me. My NPF No is ANONYMOUS. I will be happy if you can help and see that the money is paid. I also worked at Barachel Model College.

    PTAD: The pensioner was called several times with no response. He is advised to send his complaint, name and account details to complaints@ptad.gov.ng.

    ALICE: My pension number is Anonymous. I did verification since August 2017 but PTAD has not paid me till date. Kindly assist, several pensioners have gotten theirs . I am a state pensioner with federal share. I retired on 30 April 30, 2008 without payment till date.

    PTAD: The pensioner’s complaint has been investigated. She will receive payment as funds are allocated and released by the Federal Government.

    JOSHUA: I retired as a Seargent on grade level 05 step 4. My date of first appointment is  January 20, 1986 and date of retirement is March 1, 1997. I have done verification in Abuja. Please, help tell pension boss that she should pay my pension. I am helplessly living a tortuous life.

    PTAD: The pensioner’s complaint has been reviewed by the operations department. He will be paid as funds are allocated and released by the Federal Government.

    SANMI: I retired as an Assistant Director of Education (GL 15) in December 1996, after serving the government for 35 years. My gratuities were paid in 1998 when the value of the money had fallen more than 100 per cent. I started drawing my pensions in 2000. I am a  federal pensioner, with no state share at all. Till date, I have not been allowed to enjoy any of the pension increases approved since 2000. In April 2009, my pensions were harmonised to enable me enjoy the 142 per cent increment approved in 2000. The voucher was prepared. This included the arrears accruing from 2000. That month, I was paid only the harmonised monthly amount. The arrears were not paid and have still not been paid. Later, the harmonised amount was reduced by 50 per cent. Despite series of verification and complaints forms, no action has been taken on my case. However, the pension authorities keep on telling the public that they have been paying pension arrears and returning savings from discovery of ghost pensioners to government coffers. I submitted a letter of complaint to the Akure Office of the Public Complaints Office in April 2014, but I am not sure the letter left the office although they charged me for courier fees. I retired from the Federal Civil Service at the age of 56 years. I am now 76 years old and I am still being denied my entitlements by since 2000. This complaint and relevant documents including my bank statement of accounts are in my records with PTAD as were with those who handed over to them. Why is it that nobody is doing or saying anything about my case since 16 years?

    PTAD: We require additional information to enable us investigate and resolve the pensioner’s complaint. Mr Owoeye should please send the pensioner’s name and telephone number to complaints@ptad.gov.ng to enable us speak to him.

  • Window to switch PFAs soon

    Contributors or Retirement Savings Account holders and retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) would soon have opportunity to change from one Pension Fund Administrator (PFAs) to another.

    Contributors have been agitating for flexibility  to be able to  change their PFAs owing to poor customer service by some PFAs but have been unable to do so, 15 years into the establishment of the CPS. The change is expected to occur through the transfer window platform.

    But the opportunity appears near with the recent deployment of Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS) by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

    The ECRS is an electronic platform for the submission of requests by (PFAs) for the registration of contributors and issuance of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs).

    Consequently, the Commission has transited from the use of existing Contributor Registration System (CRS) to the ECRS.

    Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, in a report said the commission is working tirelessly to address the yearnings of the contributors.

    She stated that the ECRS would also provide a platform for the Registration of Micro Pension Plan Participants among others.

    She explained that the ECRS provides a more dynamic and friendly user interface and fully addresses the issues identified with the CRS.

    According to her, the ECRS has also been integrated with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for authentication of the uniqueness of individuals seeking to register under the CPS.

    She, however, called on contributors to visit their PFAs to provide their National Identification Number (NIN) and other information that may be required by the PFAs.

    She said: “The deployment of the ECRS will greatly enhance the integrity of contributors’ data and also provide a platform for the Registration of Micro Pension Plan Participants and Cross Border individuals like participants living abroad and foreigners living in Nigeria wishing to participate in the CPS; Electronic submission of employer code requests by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) or employers and the full automation of the process of issuing employer codes; and provide updates and edits of contributors’ information on the National Databank maintained by the National Pension

    Commission by the PFAs.

    “Accordingly, contributors are advised to visit their PFAs to provide their National Identification Number (NIN) and other information that may be required by the PFAs.The deployment of the ECRS is a major step towards the introduction of the transfer window, which will enable contributorschange to the PFAs of their choice, in line with Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.

    “The Commission is assuring all stakeholders that it will continue to come up with positive innovations and policies that will not only address the yearnings of the contributors but also enhance the regulation and supervision of the pension industry”, she added.