The Nation Newspaper

Tag: pension

  • Pension shortfalls cost UK firms £182b

    British employers have pumped £182billion into defined-benefit pension schemes since the start of quantitative easing in 2009 as they grapple with growing deficits, the latest figures show.

    Figures from the pension regulator and Pension Protection Fund reveal that in the 2012 to 2013 financial year, employers injected £29 billion of deficit reduction contributions, plus a further £18billion of special payments to plug widening shortfalls.

    While the regular contributions fell from £36billion in the previous year, the figures show employers are being forced to chip in rising amounts of special payments to tackle deficits.

    Such payments have continued to rise over the past four years from £10billion in the year Quantitative Easing (QE) was launched to £18billion in the latest year.

    Since Britain embarked on its £375billion QE blitz to boost the recovery, employers with final salary schemes have been hit by a triple whammy of depressed asset returns, rising liabilities and increased longevity.

    But, while there is growing optimism that the worst may be over, with the Bank of England signaling a possible return to rising interest rates by 2015, a new report highlights the risks from future monetary policy and the difficulties companies have in predicting future contributions.

    The report, by economics consultancy Fathom Consulting and Pension Corporation, the insurer for defined benefit schemes, outlines three possible scenarios based on the outlook for inflation and index-linked yields in the UK, a key driver of the funding position of most schemes.

    In the worst case, dubbed “financial repression” the report finds that employers could be forced to inject another £250billion over the next 10 years – a sum close to the gross operating surplus, before interest payments or tax, of all private-sector non-financial corporations in 2012.

    A second scenario recognises that the downturn has damaged UK productivity and the pick-up in demand sparks inflation. That would leave firms facing £26billion of deficit contributions.

    For employers with final-salary pensions, spare capacity in the UK economy curbs inflation, and yields normalise. This would see a funding requirement of a mere £100,000.

    • Culled from the Telegraph

  • ‘PFAs have only received part payment of PHCN workers’ pension’

    ‘PFAs have only received part payment of PHCN workers’ pension’

    Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) have only received some part payments of the pension benefits of workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) who were sacked, the new Chairman of Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), the umbrella body for the PFAs, Misbahu Umar Yola, has said.

    He spoke to reporters while outlining his plans for the association in Lagos.

    Yola, who said some PFAs have received payments of the PHCN pensioners from the Federal Government, could not, however, confirm how much they have received as at press time.

    He noted that certain details and information were still being worked out by the PFAs with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federal Civil Service, the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), and the PHCN management, adding that when the process is completed, their accounts will be credited.

    Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has given reasons why some of the workers have not been paid their severance packages.

    He said the delay was as a result of inconsistent information submitted to his ministry and pension fund management companies by some of the workers.

    Nebo, who spoke at the opening of a new power transmission sub-station in Ibadan on Friday, said there was a provision for payment to the workers.

    “We are working hard to ensure that all members of staff of the former PHCN are paid their entitlements. There are about 7,000 left, whose biometrics were not perfect. The problem is that they were inconsistent in the information they gave to us. Some of them opened more than one bank account and submitted different names to the pension fund managers. We are trying to clear all these anomalies before making the payment,” the minister explained.

    “The handover of the successor firms was seamless and I appeal to the workers of the defunct PHCN and those with the new distribution and generation companies that the government will fulfil its obligation to them.”

    Speaking on his tenure just as he took over the mantle of leadership of the association from the Managing Director, Pension Alliance Limited, Mr. Dave Uduanu, Yola disclosed thatplans are ongoing to upgrade the association to an institute.

    He said a secretariat will be setup in the coming weeks to help coordinate its activities while the association awaits the regulator, the National Pension Commission’s approval to become an institute.

    The chairman said his administration would place more emphasis on educating members of the public on the contributory pension scheme noting he will work closely with the media to ensure proper dissemination of information about the sector.

    He said: “The Contributory Pension Scheme has a safe mechanism to ensure the security of pension funds and pension operators will continue to support the development of the scheme, to ensure protection for workers in retirement.

    “We are considering a law that will make the funds in the Retirement Savings Accounts of workers to be able to contribute more to the growth of the economy and meet some other needs of the workers even before retirement”.

    The chairman further said his team would collaborate with the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to encourage saving culture among young people and also ensure that the open window initiative is achieved.

    A framework has also been designed by Pen Com and in a few months, it would roll out the guidelines that would enable for the sector.

    He further disclosed that the PFAs have started engaging the informal sector and have started putting incentives that will attract the informal sector.

    The new members of PenOp Executive Committee are the Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator Limited, Mrs. YemisiAyeni, who is the vice-chairman; Managing Director, ARM Pension Managers Limited, Mr Sodiq Mohammed, is the Head, technical committee; Managing Director, Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Wilson Ideva, is the Head, Legal and Regional Committee; Managing Director, FUG Pension Limited, Mr Usman Suleiman, is the Head, Branding and Communication; Managing Director, Zenith Pension Fund Custodian, Mrs. Nkem Oni-Egboma, is the Treasurer and Mrs. Susan Oranye, is the Secretary.

  • Jonathan establishes Pension Transition Arrangement Dept, appoints DG

    Jonathan establishes Pension Transition Arrangement Dept, appoints DG

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has approved the establishment of a Pension Transition Arrangement Department (PTAD).

    He also approved the appointment of Ms. Nellie Mayshak as Director-General of the department.

    This was contained in a circular signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji.

    The circular was sent to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.

    According to Goni, the establishment of the new pension department is in line with Section 30, Sub Section (2a) of the Amended Pension Reform Act, 2004.

    He said the new department will take over management of three of the offices currently running the old pension scheme.

    A statement by Director of Communications, Tope Ajakaiye, listed the offices as: the Civil Service Pension Department, the Police Pension Office and the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO).

    Nellie is expected to spearhead the smooth transition of the three offices into a single pension administration and management under the supervision of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).

    PENCOM will report to the Office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance for coordination and control.

     

  • ‘New Pension Act will enhance capital formation’

    ‘New Pension Act will enhance capital formation’

    The amendment of the Pension Act 2004 will lead to greater pool of investable capital that would further enhance the long-term capital formation necessary for the development of critical national infrastructures and ensure better returns for all stakeholders.

    Stakeholders in the capital market and pension management said various amendments being proposed to the Pension Act would enhance the capacity and efficiency of pension regulation, broaden investment horizon of pension fund management, increase returns to pensioners and enlarge the coverage to the contributory pension scheme to millions of new contributors.

    Stakeholders who made representations against the background of the ongoing review of the Pension Reform Act 2004 by the National Assembly said proposed amendments under the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2013 Bill would benefit all stakeholders.

    They noted that the passage of the Bill will create new impetus for capital formation and help to address the challenges being faced by the National Pension Commission (Pencom) and other operators in the implementation of the Pension Reform Act 2004.

    In a memorandum on the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2013 Bill, Pencom outlined that the principal thrusts of the amendments are to enhance regulatory and enforcement activities, protection of pension fund assets, unlock the opportunities for the deployment of pension assets for national development, review the sanctions regime to reflect current realities, provide for the participation of the informal sector and also provide the framework for the adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by States and Local Governments.

    Deputy Group Managing Director, BGL Plc, Mr. Chibundu Edozie, noted that the amendments to the Pension Act 2004 will address the loopholes in the current Act, such as non-remittance of pension contributions to the Pension Fund Administrators, especially by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) while it will also provide an enhanced coverage, especially in the informal sector participation in the pension scheme by introducing a minimum guaranteed pension to all covered persons.

    He said the amendment will lead to a significant increase in investable pension assets which would benefit the capital market pointing out that Nigeria’s pension asset, currently at N3.3 trillion, is estimated to grow to N7.1 trillion by the end of 2015; an estimated increase of about N4 trillion in 27 months.

    “Since most of the expected fund would be invested in equities and fixed income instruments, this would lead to a significant boost in capital market activities. The provision for the utilisation of pension funds for national development would also help capital market activities as several investment vehicles are created to meet the investment guidelines for Pension Funds,” Edozie said in response to a media enquiry by The Nation.

    According to him, capital market operators and investment managers would like to see a pension sector that is creative and more amenable to more exotic assets to meet the market’s needs. While the guarded approach by Pencom saved the industry from the market meltdown of 2008-2010, the industry is ripe now to start allowing more innovation and skilful management expertise from the fund managers.

    “We may start this by allowing investment according to the demography of beneficiaries where funds with more young contributors are allowed more investment in equities than funds with older contributors. We may also allow fund managers to invest in some private products such as infrastructure funds and other development-focused products and funds which may not fulfill all the current investment guidelines by the Pencom as long as the fund manager is convinced that it is a beneficial investment to the fund contributors,” Edozie said.

    President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Ariyo Olushekun, said there should be flexible in pension fund investment and management in line with the structures and classes of the contributors.

    Olushekun, who is also the managing director, Capital Assets Limited, a leading investment services firm, noted that increased pool of capital and flexible investment rules would allow aggressive fund managers to play in the equities market without violating any rule.

    He noted that pension funds as collective assets of the Nigerian people should be used as catalyst for the Nigerian capital market, which would in turn impact on the nation’s economic development.

    Analysts at FirstBank of Nigeria said the PRA 2013 portends some key fundamental changes that would enhance the pool and efficiency of the pension industry.

    According to FirstBank, if the National Assembly passed the bill, it will drive increased inflows of pension contribution from employers and employees, which will increase the pension assets under custody and, ultimately, positively impact profitability.

    If passed into law, the PRA 2013 will allow for a wider decree of transparency in the pension industry as the regulatory commission will be able to exercise more powers to discharge its regulatory functions.

    One of the major highlights that seek to remove the bottlenecks around pension claim and payment is the proposal by the Pencom that payment of pensions would be made by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) directly into beneficiaries (pensioners’) bank accounts rather than through the usual long processes during which the monies disappears in transit.

    To capture a wider number of employees in the informal sector which unarguably constitute the greater chunk of the country’s economy, the PRA 2013 Bill seeks to change initial provision of minimum requirement of five employees for organisations to participate in the scheme to three employees to allow small businesses, especially the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to partake in the scheme.

    Most analysts agreed that SMEs form the largest segment of most economies, including Nigeria. Data supplied by the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) showed that more than 12 million firms, including partnerships and micro enterprises, that normally have less than five employees are registered in Nigeria.

    Analysts at BGL Group noted that with about 10 per cent of estimated working population now in the pension system, the notable gap between contributors and potential contributors can be explained mainly by the high percentage of Nigeria’s working population operating in the informal sector of the economy.

    Beyond helping Nigerian workers to secure their future, the new Act would catalyse the formation of larger and long-tenored capital that could assist Nigeria in its quest for rapid transformation and infrastructural development. The PRA 2013 Bill seeks to expand the sphere of permissible investment instruments to accommodate initiatives for national development which include among others investment of the pension funds in the real sector. This will focus on infrastructure and housing development while at the same time not unnecessarily endangering the pension fund assets. These changes will also foster the development of the Nigerian capital market.

    Sectoral review by BGL Group shows that contributors within the 40 years bracket account for more than 60 per cent of pension contributions, which implies that a large portion of contributors would not withdraw their retirement accounts until after 10 to 20 years. Under amenable amendments, this structure of contributors should give the pension fund administrators the liberty to invest the pension assets in relatively long-term investments with strong growth potential and moderate risk.

    Analysts at BGL pointed out that the concentration of pension investment assets in low-yield debt investments may be limiting the growth potential of the retirement fund for young pension contributors with long-term investment horizon.

    The pension regulator was also said to be considering the prospects of securities lending and amendments to existing legislation to allow securities lending in the pension industry.

    The market making and securities lending initiatives took off at the Nigerian capital market on September 18, 2012. Rule 350 of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the operating guidelines on securities lending by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) jointly allow pension fund administrators and custodians to engage in securities lending.

    Besides, the PRA 2013 Bill also seeks to align with the requests from workers through various labour unions that the waiting period for accessing benefits in the event of loss of job be reduced from six months to four months.

    Also, to ensure strict operational discipline by operators in the pension industry, the bill seeks to create new offences and provide for stiffer penalties that will serve as deterrence against mismanagement or diversion of pension funds assets under any guise, as well as other infractions of the provisions of the Act. This becomes very expedient as Pencom has observed that sanctions currently provided under the PRA 2004 are no longer sufficient deterrents against infractions that operators currently commit under the PRA 2004 Act.

    Another major issue among the 23 loopholes identified with the PRA 2004 which the Commission seeks to address through the PRA 2013 Bill is that the fund set aside by the Government to pay the accrued rights for past service under the Contributory Pension System is hardly sufficient. To this effect, the Bill seeks to amend Section 29(2) of the PRA 2004 to indicate that the five per cent deduction of monthly Federal Government wage bill should rather be a minimum amount and the Commission should determine and advise the Federal Government as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration, on appropriate rates, from time to time, that is sufficient to address the projected yearly pension liability of the Government.

    If the National Assembly eventually approves the PRA 2013 Bill, workers under the Contributory Pension Scheme will definitely get richer at retirement. In line with aspirations of stakeholders in the pension industry, Pencom has recommended that more money be contributed on behalf of the employees by the employers to the scheme. Hence, rather than the 15 per cent remittance jointly shared by both employer and employee on a monthly basis, it will move up to 20 per cent. The PRA 2013 Bill when passed will increase employers’ contribution for the employee to 12 per cent while the employee will only remit eight per cent. In addition to the 33.3 percent increase in joint contribution by employer and employee, employers will also be persuaded under the new Bill to pay gratuity as additional benefit to their workers at retirement.

    The PRA 2013 also highlights the importance of qualification of staff to occupy certain positions within the pension regulatory system. Whereas the PRA 2004 Act did not permit anybody who does not have more than 20 years working experience to be either the Chairman or Director General of the Commission, PRA 2013 Bill is recommending 20-year and 15-year work experience for Chairman and Director General respectively. Given similar provisions relating to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) where no emphasis is laid on the number of years one has worked but on competence, stakeholders believe the same consideration should be given to pension regulation.

    Alternatively, some stakeholders have argued that in the case when experience is linked to the number of years one had worked, the provisions relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), should be a yardstick to set a standard for Pencom. Investment and Securities Act (ISA) allows 15-year work experience for the position of Director General and 12-year experience for Executive Directors. Similarly, Section 10(2) of the National Insurance Commission Act 1997 also stipulates 15-year experience for appointment as Commissioner of Insurance. The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990 stipulates 10 years experience for appointment as Registrar-General of the CAC.

     

  • Pensioners seek government support

    Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has appealed to the state governor Babatunde Fashola to assist them in the payment of outstanding allowances to its members.

    According to the union, the entitlement they are demanding include; non payment of the pensioners gratuity between 2006 and 2010, non-implementation of pension increase of six percent in 2003 and 15 percent in 2007, non payment of 36 months balance of 142 percent of pension increase from year 2000 till date, non- review of pensions for the past 10 years in contradiction of the 1999 Constitution.

    The state chairman and the Southwest Coordinator of the union, Alhaji Nojeemdeen Ibrahim, said the group had made several efforts to speak and hold a peaceful protest to demand for the gratuity of some of it members who had retired since 13 years ago but all to no avail.

    He said many of the people involved have children in school and some of them are dying because they cannot pay for treatment in hospital. He added that some are ageing and many are dying of hunger because there is no money to take care of themselves.

    Ibrahim said the union now decided to embark on fasting and prayer because they have adopted many strategies to demand for their entitlements from the government.

    He maintained that the union resolved to embark on fasting and prayer because it is only God who can help them.

    In his words; “we have held several meetings with the government but the people in charge are trying to play politics with our demand. Many times they will tell us that they have taken it to the State Executive Council meeting which we know that they are just trying to play pranks with this issue. Meanwhile, many of our people are dying and if they don’t give them when they are alive, when will they receive what they have worked for in many years back.

    “Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun and Oyo do not owe their pensioners; it is only the Lagos and Osun that are stubborn in this regard.

    In his remarks, the Lagos State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Comrade Akeem Kazeem, appealed to the state government to address the issue before it gets out of hand. He said the people involved are aged people and the goverment have to address it before they all die.

    One of the people who spoke with Hallmark Mr. Kabiru Adeleke said it is unfortunate that the State governor could ignore them at this stage despite their effort to ensure that Fashola return to power. He said some of them are aging and dying because there is no money to take care of themselves and many have children at school but when the state government refused to pay their money, how can they provide for their family? He queried.

     

     

  • PENCOM proposes 20% review of pension contributions

    • Wants 20 years’ experience for DG removed

    The National Pension Commission (PENCOM) has proposed a review of the minimum rate of pension contributions from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

    It stated this in a memo to the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service and House Committee on Pension for an Act to Repeal the 2004 Pension Reform Act (PRA) and Enact PRA 2013.

    PENCOM said: “Stakeholders have observed that the minimum pension contribution of 15 per cent of employee’s monthly emolument is not adequate enough to generate the required retirement benefits for the worker.

    “The equality of the 7.5 per cent rate of contribution payable by both the employer and the employee is not equitable especially because the employer has a stronger financial muscle.”

    As a result, the commission proposed in the PRA 2013 Bill “an upward review of the rate of contribution and the proportion of the rate payable by the employer and the employee. The proposed minimum rate is 20 per cent of the monthly emolument: 12 per cent by the employer and 8 per cent by the employee.”

    However, a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) punctured PENCOM’s argument on the review.

    “The 15 per cent contribution has not been fully complied with by both the private and public sectors. What PENCOM should do is to make sure that it enforces the inclusion of the private and public sectors to build a critical mass for the contribution,” the PFA said.

    According to him, the capture of more contributors from the private and public sectors at 15 per cent into the scheme will lead to availability of more funds to pay retirees rather than pursuing an increase without any guarantees for enhanced compliance.

    PENCOM added in the memo: “Provisions have been inserted in the Bill such that the sphere of permissible investment instruments would be expanded to accommodate initiatives for national development, such as investment in the real sector, including infrastructure and housing development while at the same time ensuring the safety of pension fund assets.”

    The reason for its input, the commission said, was because “there is a consensus among stakeholders that the PRA should facilitate the optimal utilisation of pool of funds generated by the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) towards national development.”

    Another proposal by PENCOM was for the reduction in the number of years a prospective director-general (DG) and commissioners of the commission should have.

    PENCOM said it “is graduated in descending order from that of the chairman at 20 years to that of the director-general at 15 years.”

    The bill also stipulates 15 years’experience for commissioners, who act for the DG. There is no such requirement for a commissioner under the PRA 2004. PENCOM hinged its position on what it called “specifying a minimum of 15 years experience for the director-general of the Commission and the commissioners seeks to fortify the standard and streamline it with the requirements in other government institutions in the financial services industry.”

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007 and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Act 2006 showed that no qualifying years of experience is stipulated for appointment as CBN governor and deputy governors and managing director and executive directors of the two institutions.

    PENCOM added: “Section 3(2) of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 stipulates 15 years’ experience for the director-general and 12 years’ experiencee for the executive directors of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    ‘’Section 10(2) of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Act 1997 also stipulates 15 years’ experience for appointment as commissioner of Insurance.” The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990 stipulates 10 years experience for appointment as Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    “The National Assembly should de-emphasis the issue of qualifying years of experience and adopt the model of the CBN Act where no requirement of specific years of post-qualification experience is stipulated by the CBN Act. This is the position that is consistent with global best practice which emphasises competency rather than years of post-qualification experience, which does not necessarily translate into capacity and capability.”

    Due to complaints received mainly from the labour unions, PENCOM has proposed that the PRA 2013 reduce the waiting period for accessing benefits in the event of loss of job from six months to four months.

    The PRA 2013 Bill also seeks to prohibit members of the board of PenCom or their related parties from owning shares in operator companies. This is in order to remove conflict of interest situations and entrench the principles of good corporate governance.

  • Private sector leads in pension contributions

    Private sector leads in pension contributions

    The private sector has surpassed the public sector in pension contributions, FBN Capital report has shown.

    It indicated that the private sector contributes about 60 per cent of the N3.4 trillion pension assets under the management of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).

    The research firm said data released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) showed that as at end of March, this year (when pension assets were N3 trillion), the private sector contributed N1.8 trillion to the scheme. Also, the public sector’s contribution from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal and some state governments, was N1.2 trillion. This, it said, was a marked change from its composition in 2004 when the Act kicked off.

    FBN Capital said the increase to N3.4 trillion as at the end of May was largely due to the filing in of 12 states into the contributory pension scheme, although only six states had collected and remitted contributions in compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

    It said the number of registered contributors has grown to 5.5 million with an average monthly contribution of N30 billion.

    “Given that only seven per cent of the nation’s 80 million workforce has joined the scheme, there exists a huge potential for growth in the coming years,” it said.

     

  • N4bn pension scam raises fresh trouble for Sylva

    N4bn pension scam raises fresh trouble for Sylva

    Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has ordered a probe of alleged non-payment of pensions to retirees in the state for five years under his predecessor, Chief Timipre Sylva.

    The accumulated pensions are estimated at over N4billion.

    Dickson, speaking during the 14th edition of the state’s Transparency Briefing in Yenagoa said government is interested in getting to the root of the non-payment of the pension between 2007 and 2012.

    Sylva became governor in 2007 but lost out in his bid to secure a second term in office.

    An 11-man Financial Management and Review Committee established by Dickson and chaired by Timi Alaibe had in April 2012 indicted Sylva of mismanaging the N660.45bn the state received from the Federation Account from 2007 to 2011.

    Besides, Sylva is also facing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations bordering on financial fraud.

    Dickson who was disturbed at the development said it was unacceptable that people were owed pensions for five years after rendering services to the state.

    He put the arrears of unpaid pensions his administration inherited from the past at over N4bn.

    In a bid to offset the arrears, he said his administration has, in the spirit of its restoration agenda, begun setting aside N250m monthly to tackle the issue.

    According to him, a committee he set up to handle the problem has already reduced the backlog by over N1bn.

    The governor was obviously upset that despite his efforts, some “misguided retirees” took to the streets earlier this month to protest their neglect”.

    Following the development, Dickson said he has decided to establish a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate what he referred to as the mess his administration has been battling to clean up the debt.

    He said officials indicted by the commission for failing to live up to their official responsibilities would be punished.

    He said: “We have to address the pitiable backlog of gratuities and pension payment in this state at the time we came in. Those who have served meritoriously and retired were owed pensions and gratuities of over N4bn.

    “They have not been paid since 2007. Now that is not acceptable. I have said so over and over. We have started the process of putting some money aside to offset the backlog.

    “There is a committee set up chaired by the Head of Service and I have given them over N1bn to pay. I was told that some misguided elements tried to make politics out of it some few days back.

    “Some people were here some five years, they didn’t pay retirees, now we are working out to clear the mess, yet some pensioners allowed themselves to be misguided.

    “For this month, we have set aside N250m. But I am going to do something more as a result of those retires. I am going to set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate those who have the duty to pay pensioners and gratuities but they did not do so.”

    Dickson said the state got a total inflow of N19.9bn but had a balance of N10bn after paying all liabilities.

    But he lamented the continuous servicing of loans and bonds borrowed by the previous administration.

     

  • Obi approves N65m for pension

    Obi approves N65m for pension

    ANAMBRA State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Chief Joe-Martin Uzodike yesterday announced that pensioners who retired from the Anambra State Broadcasting Service (ABS) and National Light Newspapers would be tackled promptly by Governor Peter Obi.

    Uzodike spoke to newsmen while inspecting the new corporate office of the ABS in Onitsha at Awada Obosi.

    He revealed that Governor Obi has approved the sum of N65m.

    The commissioner who was in the company of the Acting Managing Director of ABS, Rev Alphonsus Ginikanwa and Head of Station, Pastor Ogo Aniekwe, said the new building cost the government N20m, adding that another N45m has been earmarked to provide transmitters which are expected to cover the entire state and South East region.

    In his response, Ginikanwa thanked the commissioner for championing the welfare of staff and development of infrastructure in ABS and other offices his ministry is supervising.

     

  • Mark: Senate’ll end impunity in pension administration

    •Committee to reconsider stand on new states

    Senate President David Mark has assured Nigerians that the Senate will end the era of impunity and corruption in pension management in the country.

    He said the determination stemmed from a joint resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives to stop impunity and corruption in the nation’s pension industry.

    Mark spoke at a public hearing on a Bill for an Act to Repeal the Pension Reform Act, 2004 and Re-act the Pension Reform Act 2013 to make provisions for the contributory pension scheme and for connected matters.

    The two-day public hearing ended in Abuja at the weekend.

    Describing the bill as a positive response to the joint resolution of the National Assembly, Mark noted that it showed that the pension industry plays a formidable role in the socio-economic development of the country.

    The industry, he said, guarantees a befitting welfare for senior citizens as well as makes available huge investment funds for the real and capital market sectors.

    The Senate President said this is why it could not be allowed to be mismanaged or abused by operators/administrators.

    Mark noted that the introduction of the bill demonstrates the effectiveness of the Executive arm in its quick response to the cries of pensioners.

    He said the bill would ensure a paradigm shift and overhaul the apex regulatory agency, the PENCOM.

    The Senate President stressed the role of an effective pension administration on the well-being of pensioners is clear.

    Mark said the efforts of those who laboured for the fatherland would always be appreciated through adequate payment of their pensions and gratuities.

    He said: “This is why I, as the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives do urge the Joint Committee to do justice to this bill by making sure the merits of its passage will address the expectations of the ultimate beneficiaries.”

    Also, there were indications yesterday that the Senate Committee on State Creation may reconsider its earlier stand on more states.

    It has given agitators of new states a second chance to correct the anomaly in their requests for new states and re-present their requests to the committee.

    A member of the committee and Senator representing Kaduna South, Nenadi Usman, said those requesting for new states were asked to correct their mistakes and return to the committee.

    In its report, which was presented to the Senate recently by its Chairman, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the committee said none of the requests conformed with the provisions of Section 8(1) of the Constitution, which stipulates that two-thirds of elected representatives of the area requesting for a state must sign the document.

    Usman told leaders and stakeholders of Southern Kaduna, who are requesting for Gurara State, that only 17 of the requests for state were processed by the committee.

    According to her, none of the 17 complied with the provisions of the constitution.

    She said: “At our last meeting, those of us who are from areas requesting states made a case to the committee. We told the committee that as representatives of the people, we should be able to make provisions for state creation and that we be given the chance to correct the errors in the submissions.”