The Nation Newspaper

Tag: retirees

  • Court orders NNPC to pay retirees N500m

    Court orders NNPC to pay retirees N500m

    The National Industrial Court on Monday ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Pension Fund Limited to pay N500 million to the corporation’s pensioners who retired prior to 2004.

    Justice Maureen Esowe gave the order, while delivering judgment in a case filed by one Mr. Moshe Amaechi and three others on behalf of the pre-2004 retirees of the NNPC.

    The claimants instituted the suit in December 2011, challenging the non-payment of their reviewed pension arrears, approved by the NNPC Board in 2009.

    They urged the court to declare that the said N500 million was meant for the retirees who retired on or before December 31, 2004, which the claimants are part of.

    The claimants also prayed the court to order the defendant to pay the said amount to all the pensioners who retired from NNPC on or before December 31, 2004.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that, during the hearing of the case, the defendant had submitted that the claimants did not represent the interest of all the affected retirees.

    The NNPC counsel, Ms Olufunke Aboyade, had urged the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the claimants had no common interests and grievances.

    She also urged the court to hold that the claims were not beneficial to all the retirees.

    In his argument, the claimants’ counsel, Adeleke Agbola, submitted that, the money was meant for the pensioners, who retired prior to 2004 and not for all the pensioners as alleged by the defendant.

    Agbola also argued that, the defendant had no constitutional right to tamper with the claimants’ pension, as approved by the relevant authority.

    In her judgment, the judge held that the issue before the court for determination was whether the claimants had legal standing to institute legal action against the defendant.

    Esowe also said that it was for the court to determine whether the claimants were entitled to the N500 million approved by the board of NNPC to the defendant.

    She further held that the court would determine whether the claimants had common interest and grievance, and whether their claims were beneficial to all the affected pensioners.

  • LASPEC advises retirees on wills

    The Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) has advised retiring civil servants to write wills while they are still alive.

    The Director-General, Mr Rotimi Hussain, said a will is an essential document in the Contributory Pension Scheme.

    Hussain, who gave the advice during a retirement seminar organised by LASPEC in partnership with some Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) for workers billed to retire from the state public service between January and June, said: “The erroneous belief in many quarters is that if you prepare your will, you may die early.This is not the case. Preparation of a will is not a licence to early; rather it is an essential document which allows beneficiaries or next-of-kin to unfettered access to the estate when eventually left behind by the benefactor.”

    Explaining further, the Director-General said: “If a person died intestate without a will, the beneficiaries would be required to provide a letter of administration from the Probate Registry of a Law Court before they could access the balance in the Retirement Savings Account.

    He said: “Obtaining the Letter of Administration is always a difficult task, considering the time and finances involved.

    “Lagos State Pension Commission is already exploring the possibility of identifying reputable organisations who will assist workers in the area of will preparation,” he said.

    He noted that the pre-retirement seminar was designed to help retirees on pensions.

     

     

     

  • Lagos pays N14.45b to retirees

    The Lagos State Government paid N14.486 billion to 2,604 retirees of the contributory pension scheme in two years, the Director-General Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Rotimi Hussain, has said.

    Hussain, who made this known at the Third Pre-Retirement seminar for workers retiring from the state’s service between January and June, said the contributory pension scheme, has continued to record huge success, adding that the amount was paid between October 2010 and December 2012.

    He noted that the event was designed to help the would-be retirees prepare for their physical, emotional and financial well-being upon retirement.

    He said with effective planning, retirees would be afforded the benefit of being in a better position and frame of mind to build a vibrant and rewarding life in retirement.

    He said: “I am pleased to state that the contributory pension scheme in Lagos State has continue to record huge success. As we speak, 2,604 retirees who retired from the State public service under the scheme have been paid N14.486 billion between October 2010 and December 2012.

    “This feat gives hope that with the contributory pension scheme, the future is absolutely bright for workers in the state.”

    Hussain said the state is poised to provide comfortable live for its workers during retirement.

     

     

     

     

  • NIPOST retirees to govt: Pay us

    Hundreds of retireees of the Nigerian Post and Telecommunication (NIPOST) on Wednesday took to the streets in Lagos to protest the non-payment of their 65 months pension.

    The pensioners, most of who were aged and haggard-looking, shut down the Ijora workshop of the postal agency, from where they moved to Sabo, Somolu and Ikeja post offices and equally shut them against businesses.

    The pensioners who were protesting under the umbrella of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), NIPOST branch, said they have not been paid their gratuity and pension since they left office in 2006.

    Comrade Joseph Familusi, who is also a member of the Pensioners Board of Trustees, who led the shut down at Ikeja Post Office told journalists that pensioners are tired of being treated as “irrelevant” by the management.

    According to him, the Post-Master General (PMG) and the Accountant General (AG) have been passing the bucks on their demand for several months and that the matter had gotten to a point that they do not know who to believe again.

    The retirees who said that their names have been removed from the pay list, therefore called for the removal of the Post Master General.

    “The Accountant General in collaboration with the Post-Master General, have been playing pranks with our lives. The AG would tell us to go to the PMG because they have not given actual return while the PMG would tell us to go to the AG.

    “We are tired of being tossed around as worthless beings. Even the IGI, the underwriter, when they give them our money, they hold on to it for long and when we protested, they only paid us a month,” Familusi said.

  • Why retirees’ payments are delayed, by IBTC chief

    IMPROPER documentation has been identified as the major cause of delays in retirement benefits payment.

    Managing Director, Stanbic IBTC Pensions Plc, Mr Demola Sogunle, said when documents are wrongly entered before submission, delays in payment of retirees’entitlements will become inevitable, adding that to avoid this, retirees must ensure during submission, the application, documents and other issues are ironed out.

    He said during the documentation, calculation is vital, arguing that most delays can be avoided if documents are submitted on time.

    Speaking in Lagos about the progress the firm has made so far, Sogunle said another factor that stands IBTC Pensions out is its robust IT platform which it leverages on for improved operations and service delivery.

    He said the firm makes use of the mobile electronic banking platform to introduce multiple remote access points for its clients to make enquires and check their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) balances via e-mail, cell phones, short code and latest cardless transactions on Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

    According to him, the firm has become a reference point for similar businesses in West Africa and is aiming at becoming Africa’s reference point for pension management. To move forward, he said the demographics and institutional architecture of most African nations are much different from Europe, Asia and America so the mode of management of pension in Africa should be different too.

    Sogunle said IBTC Pensions is aiming at out-performing its past in terms of quality service delivery. “We believe there are many that could be dine better regarding turnaround time for payments, communication with clients and sensitising employers about the need to participate in the scheme,” he said.

    He ascribe the success of the firm to staff and its management team.

    Said he: “From inception, we have been fortunate to assemble a world class team of professionals and their ideas, commitment and energy are some of the key drivers of the business today.”

    On the management, he said the board and management have kept faith with the core vision of the business, adding that it is a vision founded upon convictions that avenues exist in Nigeria for wealth creation and preservation.

    He also said sound professionals exist who can midwife such portfolios.

    As a member of the 150-year old Standard Bank Group, Africa’s biggest banking conglomerate, he said Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is backed by strong and sound financial clout which ensures the safety of clients’ investment.

  • Why retirees fail to get benefits early

    Why retirees fail to get benefits early

    A fund manager, Mishahu Yola, has given reasons some retirees fail to get their benefits after putting in the required number of years in public service or private sector.

    Yola, who is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Legacy Pension Managers Limited, spoke at a workshop organised by National Pension Commission (PenCom) on “The role of pension operators in the provision of efficient customer service delivery,” in Abuja.

    He said the previous scheme, which was operated on ‘pay as you go basis,’ “was not fully funded. The old retirement scheme, because of how it was run, created huge deficits totalling over N2 trillion or 25 per cent of the GDP.”

    He added that as a result, “retired workers were not paid as and when due.

    “Different regulators managed different schemes, complicating the entire process with many offices supervising retirement benefits of different organisations in the public service, creating confusion in the system,” Yola said.

    To arrest the trend, he said the government brought the Pension Reform Act, 2004 into force.

    Comparing the Act to the discarded NSITF scheme, Yola said while the discarded scheme was not fully funded, the new scheme is, as fund is set aside to meet future retirement benefits from the outset.

    Hesaid while the former scheme was on a ‘pay as you go basis, the current scheme is contributory as both the employer and employees contribute 7.5 per cent each to the retirement scheme.

    He said: “But even with the fact that the current scheme is fully funded, some retirees still do not access their retirement benefits on time,” stating that the factors vary from the individual, the Pension Fund Administrators and the employers.

    For the individuals, he said, the challenges range from providing invalid contact address after retirement, late verification/enrolment with PenCom by Federal Government employees, providing conflicting documentation at PenCom verification/enrolment exercise, such as retiree’s name with PFA being different from the name on the nominal payroll of the Ministry, Department and Agency (MDA).

    Others include date of birth being at variance with retirement age, date of first appointment at variance with length of service, lack of or delay in submission of complete documentation and delay in payment of outstanding remittances of employees by employers.

    He listed other challenges to include, lack of reconciliation between the retiree and the Retirement Saving Administrators (RSA), adding that excesses or shortfalls must be ascertained before commencement of administration.

    Other causes as enumerated by the guest lecturer include: delay by the employer in providing the confirmation of the status of past service benefits (private sector/ self funded institutions); withholding the issuance of retirement letter by employer, lack of agreement between retiree and PFA on amount of lump sum and programmed withdrawal, as well as untimely submission of Letter of Administration in cases of death benefit and conflicting next of kins in cases of death benefit.

    To remedy the situation and avoid delays in the payment of benefits, Yola said: “Valid contact details, closer coordination and cooperation between employers and employees to facilitate timely remittance of accrued benefits by private employers are needed.”

    He also stated that remittance of retirement bonds/accrued rights before due date of retirement by employers must be done, saying this will ensure that payment of monthly pension would commence immediately after the first month of retirement.

    He also said PFAs must maintain cordial working relationship with concerned Human Resource and pension desk officers of employers to garner information as it concerns retirees and deceased employees.

    PFAs should employ effective resources in educating retirees and serving employees on the processes and procedures for processing benefits.

    PFAs should institute internal processes and mechanism to improve and enhance speedy payment of benefits, he stated.

    He called for early release of accrued benefits and contributions by government and private organisations and urged retirees, deceased beneficiaries and PFAs to ensure that accurate and proper documents are presented for processing of benefits for payment.

  • Retirees collect N1.77b monthly as pension – PENCOM

    Retirees collect N1.77b monthly as pension – PENCOM

    The Director-General of National Pension Commission, Mr. Muhammed Ahmad, said that retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme collect about N1.77 billion monthly as pension.

    Ahmad stated this at a workshop with the theme entitled: “Effective Administration of Benefits under the Pension Reform Acts 2004” organised by the Commission for journalists in Abuja.

    He said that the retirees, numbering 54, 558 from both the public and private sectors, had also collected over N151.52 billion as lump sum on retirement.

    “There are currently 54,558 retirees from the public and private sectors under the Contributory Pension Scheme that have collected over N151.52 billion as lump sum.

    “They are also collecting about N1.77 billion as monthly pension while assets worth N2.94 trillion have been accumulated as at the end of September 2012,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the PENCOM boss as saying during the workshop.

    According to Ahmad, about 5.28 million Nigerians have been registered on the scheme as at September 2012.

    The director general said the recapitalisation of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) from N150 million to N1 billion was successfully accomplished.

    He said the commission had taken legal action against employers that have not complied with the Act.

    Ahmad said that the informal sector ‘received a major boost with the commission’s appointment of about 124 Recovery Agents.

     

  • Ogun pays N1.6b pension to local govt retirees

    Ogun pays N1.6b pension to local govt retirees

    The Ogun Bureau of Local Government Pensions said it has disbursed N1.6 billion as monthly pensions patment to retired local government and primary school workers.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Bureau, Alhaji Ade Momodu, said this last week during an oversight visit by members of the Ogun House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    Momodu said the money was paid between January and September, adding that the money was paid from the monthly allocation the bureau received from the Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC).

    “The bureau has also paid N643.3 million as gratuities to retired local government staff, as well as primary school teaching and non teaching staff between January and September 2012.

    “This was paid from the state’s grant to Local Government Staff Pension Fund and the balance of statutory allocation from (JAAC) after monthly pension would have been paid,’’ he said.

    On the new contributory pension scheme, Momodu said it was introduced to remedy the shortcomings of the old scheme, explaining that a 7.5 per cent deduction is expected to be made from the salaries of all serving officers, while another 7.5 per cent of each officer is expected to be contributed by their employers.

    He said the bureau received 15 per cent deduction of the salaries of primary school teaching and non-teaching staff directly from Joint Allocation Account Committee on monthly basis.

    “The local governments are required to remit their own deductions directly to their pension fund administrators,’’ Momodu said.

    The Committee’s chairman praised the bureau for carrying out its assignment, saying, “I think you have done a good job, but l still want you to always make the collection of pensions easy for the retired local government officers, the primary school teaching and non-teaching staff,’’ Oluomo said.