The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CPS

  • CPS: Lagos assures retirees of prompt payment of entitlements

    CPS: Lagos assures retirees of prompt payment of entitlements

    The Head of Service, Lagos State Mrs. Josephine Williams has retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) will get their entitlements within one month.

    Williams, spoke in Lagos, however, urged retirees to prepare for retirement by doing proper documentation.

    She said the delay in accessing entitlements was the fault of the retirees.

    According to her, some retirees don’t have their documents and as such are not prepared for retirement.

    She noted that there were lots of sensitisation and data capturing in the system such that there was no need for them to get hard copies

    While congratulating the retirees, she noted that a Post-Service Office had been created in the Office of the Head of Service to address the problems of retirees and give useful advice which can improve the system.

    She advised the retirees to go to their PFAs with their or documents to access their retirement benefits.

    A retiree, who received his bond at the ninth Retirement Bond Certificate presentation by the Lagos State Pension Commission, Martins Asuenime, commended the organisers of the event, adding that people who retired earlier had collected their benefits.

    He said this shew that the new pension scheme was working.

    Asuenime, who retired as auditor- general for local governments and head of pension directorate, believes the CPS is better than others.

    He also believes the problem of the old scheme was funding and employers did not consider pension as a priority.

    “Now that it has been taken away from the state to the private sector, you collect your money as at when due. What we are doing now is the best and I encourage every other states to do so,” he said.

    A retiree of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mrs. Otun Oluwayemisi, said the new pension scheme is better than the previous one.

    She said: “We cannot compare this to the old scheme. With the arrangement now, we are happy most especially because we don’t have to line up under the sun or rain to take our money.

    “At the end of the day, we will just present this Retirement Bond Certificate to our PFAs and our money will be paid to us.”

     

  • Lagos pays 3, 884 retirees N21.3b under CPS

    Lagos pays 3, 884 retirees N21.3b under CPS

    The Lagos State Government has remitted a total of N21.3 billion into the Retirement Savings Accounts of 3,884 retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

    It has presented Retirement Bond Certificates to 395 retirees worth N2.4 billion.

    The Director-General of the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Mr Adekunle Hussain made this known while speaking during the presentation of Retirement Bond Certificates to the ninth batch of retirees in Lagos.

    He noted that part of the ninth batch of retirees numbering 185 were paid the sum of N943 million in September this year.

    He said: “Part of this ninth batch of retirees numbering 185, were paid the N943.1 million in September this year. We are gathered here to witness the presentation of Retirement Bond Certificates being the total accrued rights of N2.4 billion only to another set of 395 retirees.

    “These particular sets of 395 retirees form the second tranche of the ninth batch of our retirement bond presentation, thus bringing the total number of the ninth batch beneficiaries to 580 retirees.Therefore, with today’s presentation, the Lagos State Government has so far in the history of the CPS remitted a total of N21. 3b illion into the Retirement Savings Account of 3,884 retirees”.

    Hussain also said this was made possible through the commitment and support of the present administration in the state, which ensures that funds are made available for monthly remittances as well as the commitment of the board, management and staff members of the commission, who worked towards this success.

    He added that earlier, the state had paid total accrued rights of N18.9 billion of 3, 489 retirees, which include the N943 million being the first tranche of the nineth batch earlier paid to 185 retirees during a mini bond presentation in September.

    Clarifying issues on actual number of the state employees registered under the CPS, he said, the state had registered 135,000 employees.

    He stressed that the state remained steadfast in its commitment to sustaining full implementation of the pension scheme even beyond the administration and that solid and well-defined structures had been put in place to ensure that the statutory five per cent contribution that goes into the Redemption Fund Account created for redeeming the retirement bonds, is sustained.

    The LASPEC boss said the state also maintained a Pension Sinking Fund Account, which is funded monthly to ensure that funds were available to meet unforeseen pension liabilities that might arise in situations where more than those projected to leave the service voluntarily decide to do so.

    He urged the retirees to assess the situation before choosing either the programme withdrawal provided by the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) or the annuity provided by the insurance firms.