• Agency trains PDOs for seamless processing of MDA retirees
The Federal Government will soon clear the pension backlogs of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that have been pending since March, last year, the Acting Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms Omolola Oloworaran, has said.
She stated this yesterday in Lagos at the workshop on Online Enrolment Application for Pension Desk Officers of Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Treasury-Funded MDAs under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
She stated that though the delay in the release of funds by the Federal Government for the payment negates the objective of the CPS to pay promptly, she assured that the situation would soon be resolved.
She said efforts had reached advanced stage, to not only clear outstanding pension liabilities, but to also put in place machinery that would address the problems.
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The PenCom boss said they had met with various stakeholders, including the Minister of Finance, and Accountant-General of the Federation on the matter and that a lasting solution was on the way.
She promised that not only would they clear the backlogs, but that they were working to ensure that the delays were a thing of the past.
She said: “I want to use this opportunity to talk about the pending payments of retirees who retired since March 2023. This is an issue that we are fully aware of and we have been working on it. We have met with various stakeholders including the Minister of Finance, the Accountant-General of the Federation and the solution is in advanced stages.
“We are almost getting there. It is a burning issue for the government and we are working with them to ensure the payments are made as quickly as possible. We will continue to follow up and very soon, we will be making the payments. The Federal Government under the CPS is also put in place lasting solution that will address the problems that we are facing.
“I am saying that we have accrued pensions that haven’t been paid and the government realises it. Not only are we going to pay the backlogs but we are working to put lasting solutions to ensure that all these delays are a thing of the past. So we will put a process in place that once a retiree retires, they are paid immediately and within a reasonable time.”
In her keynote address to the PDOs, Oloworaran, who expressed joy in meeting with stakeholders at the event, said the commission prioritises the role of the PDOs in ensuring a seamless retirement process in MDAs.
She explained that the online enrolment application for PDOs of MDAs kickstarts the final preparations towards commencement of the Online Enrolment for 2025 prospective retirees of Treasury-funded MDAs.
She recall that, in line with its mandate, PenCom conducts yearly pre-retirement verification and enrolment for employees of Federal Government Treasury-funded MDAs who are scheduled to retire within the next fiscal year.
“The objective of the exercise is to obtain accurate information of prospective retirees that would enable PenCom determine their Accrued Pension Rights for budgetary provision by the Federal Government. You would also recall that since 2021, the Commission has automated the retiree enrolment with the deployment of the Online Enrolment Application, which has the capabilities to register, verify, and enrol prospective retirees of Treasury-funded MDAs.
“The Application has four modules, namely Retiree Module, MDA Module, PFA Module and PenCom Module. As indicated, the Application was designed with the MDA Module that enables the Pension Desk officers to upload information of retirees/prospective retirees. Therefore, in recognition of the significant role of the PDOs in the Retiree enrolment process, the Commission deems it necessary to organise annual workshop for the PDOs. Indeed, workshops like this, are integral to the Commission’s mandate and commitment to enhancing the knowledge and building the capacity of stakeholders in the Pension Industry. So, the objective of this workshop is to train the Pension Desk Officers with the requisite knowledge on the relevant Modules of the Enrolment Application.”
She noted that the workshop would focus on addressing the gaps observed in the previous exercises and enlighten PDOs on the modalities for the upcoming enrolment for next year’s retirees.
In addition, she said, PenCom held the workshop to provide PDOs with the hands-on training that would enable them to tackle the challenges encountered by them during the enrolment.
She urged them to participate and ask questions as well as seek further clarifications, where necessary, to ensure proper understanding.
Ms Oloworaran further stated that the Commission is not oblivious of the challenges being experienced occasionally with the Enrolment Application due to downtimes.
“It is important to note that these downtimes mostly occur during the last-minute rush by retirees and relevant stakeholders to meet the enrolment deadline. While the Commission is committed to providing support to PDOs during those few periods of downtimes, I am particularly pleased to inform you that the Commission has already engaged a Consultant to design and develop a new Enrolment Application that will not only address these issues, but also provide users with a more friendly and seamless experience during the enrolment.
“Events like this are timely and crucial as they provide a platform for PenCom to reiterate its commitment to continuous service improvement in the Pension Industry so that contributors and retirees receive the best possible experience regarding pension matters. It is also an occasion to interact with the stakeholders and discuss developments shaping the country’s pension landscape.’’