The Nation Newspaper

Tag: RSAs

  • Reps seek confidential information of RSAs, retirees, others

    The pension industry, which has recorded steady growth since the establishment of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by the Pension Reform Act 2004, is going through difficult times with the House of Representatives, The Nation has learnt.

    Insider sources and stakeholders, who revealed the development, said the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee in a recent summon of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) is asking the commission to provide vital and sensitive information of the operations of the CPS.

    They warned against releasing sensitive information on workers, retirees and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to the public through the Ad-hoc Committee.

    Basically, the committee is asking for vital information of Retirement Savings Account (RSAs) holders, retirees and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) that are considered confidential under the PRA 2004 as repealed by PRA 2014.

    The commission has, however, informed the Ad-hoc Committee that it will be unable to do so, explaining that it is prohibited by the provisions of some sections of the PRA 2014 from disclosing such information.

    In a letter signed by the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Hon E. Agbonayinina dated January 11, 2019 (PenCom/DG/CSLD/2019/TR11) and titled, “Request for Information-Request for Clarifications, said they have mandate to investigate the commission.

    He requested the commission to furnish them with the Net Assets Values of the contributory pension funds; Details of supervisions and regulations of Pension Funds Administrators, their key instructions and performances, compliances and default.

    The letter read further: “The Ad-hoc Committee following mandate for an investigation is pleased to clearly state that your Commission should furnish it with the Annual pension operations of all the Pension Funds Administrators. For instance, details of amount collected from contributors and amount being paid out to retirees, from April, 2017 till date. Details of investment percentages and profits from the investment of pension funds; Details of the Federal Government contributions to the Federal Government bond; Contributions of retirement savings account holders to Pension Funds Administrators; Details of payments from PenCom into the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA) and bank account details operated by the Commission.

    “Details of the amount sent in by Ministry Department and Agencies (MDAs) to PenCom through the Treasury Single Accounts between April, 2017 till date, before it is distributed to the PFAs through their Pension Custodians by Central Banks of Nigeria (CBN). Your Commission Is also expected to avail the committee any other hand over note prepared by your different department, as this will aide investigation.”

    Hon. Agbonayinina directed the commission in the letter to forward all documents in 20 hard copies and one soft copy to Office No 1.27, First floor, House of Representatives New Building, National Assembly Complex, Abuja 011 or before 10am on Thursday, 24, January, 2019, bearing in mind that the Ad-hoc Committee will be interacting with all the Pension Funds Administrators on this matter’’.

    But PenCom in its reaction to the Ad-hoc Committee in a letter dated January 23. 2019, titled, “Request for Information – Request for Clarifications” stated that the Commission has noted the Ad-hoc Committee request for documents/information in respect of the request listed in the letter under reference. However, the Commission would like to respectfully bring the following to the attention of the Ad-hoc Committee.

    “Details of supervisions and regulations of Pension Fund Administrators and their key instructions and performances, compliances and default: We are unable to decipher the Ad-hoc Committee’s specific request on the subject because these are general statements on the statutory functions of the Commission. We, therefore, request for further clarifications on the specific requirements of the Committee. Annual pension operations of all the Pension Fund Administrators. For example, details of amount collected from contributors and amount being paid out to retirees from April. 2017 till date:  This information is confidential to RSA holders under the CPS Accordingly, members of the, Board, officers, employees and agents or other persons engaged by the Commission are prohibited by the provisions of Section 113(3) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 from disclosing such information.

    “Details of the Federal Government contributions to the Federal Government bonds. The Commission requests for clarification on whether reference is being made to the amount disbursed by the Federal Government for payment of accrued pension rights or bonds issued by the Debt Management Office, which Pension Funds invest into from time to time. Contributions of RSA holders to Pension Fund Administrators: The Commission is also unable to provide the information based on it because it will constitute a breach of the provisions of Section 113(3) of the PRA 2014. Details of payment from PenCom into the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA) and bank accounts details operated by the Commission: The Commission had explained in its earlier correspondence to the Committee that it maintains a TSA account in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with the Federal Government’s policy on same. Accordingly, the Commission would like to request for further clarifications on this request of the Ad-hoc Committee.

    “Details of the amount sent in by MDAs to PenCom through the Treasury Single Accounts between April 2017 till date, before it is distributed to the PFAs through their Pension Custodians by the CBN: The Commission requests for clarification on this in view of the fact that pension contributions for employees of Treasury Funded MDAs are deducted at source by the Accountant General of the Federation and remitted directly to the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) of FGN employees on IPPIS Platform. The contributions of employees of MDAs not on IPPIS are remitted to the Contributory Pension Account maintained with the CBN for onward transfer to their RSAs.”

    On the invitation to an investigative hearing by the committee, the commission requested that the investigative hearing be deferred until the issue of the documents and information necessary to the hearing are sorted out.

    “You would recall that the commission had, vide a letter referenced PenCom/DG/CSLD12019/ of January 23, 2019 subsequently sought further necessary clarifications in respect of most items listed in your letter of request under reference. We believe that the further clarifications are necessary to enable the commission furnish the required information to facilitate the Committee’s work.

    “In the light of the foregoing and in order to facilitate the Committee’s work in a meaningful and productive manner the Commission requests that the investigative hearing be deferred until the issue of the documents/information necessary to the hearing are sorted out. In the meantime, the commission is collating the information on those requests that are clear, and which would take a while in view of the volume of information required by the committee. This further necessitates the need to fix a future date for the hearing in order to have a productive session”, the commission said.

    A major stakeholder who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the request by the committee of confidential information of the CPS is capable of jeopardising the safety of the accumulated N8.5 trillion pension fund.

    He wondered the rationale behind attempts to probe the commission at every slightest opportunity.

    He called on workers and retirees under the scheme to reject the committee by ensuring that the commission does not reveal information that can endanger their future.

    He urged lawmakers to help maintain the sanity of the industry and not work to destroy it.

  • PenCom seeks closer ties with RSAs, retirees with construction of six offices

    PenCom seeks closer ties with RSAs, retirees with construction of six offices

    IN its efforts to be closer to Retirement Saving Account (RSA) holders and retirees, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has planned to construct six office buildings , its Director-General, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, has said.

    She disclosed this in a memorandum presented to the National Assembly.

    According to her, the commission hopes to construct four zonal office buildings, acquire land for offices in Northcentral, Northwest and Southwest Zones and construct office buildings in Northcentral and Southwest.

    According to her, the construction of office building in four existing zonal offices, will gulp  N150,000,000, while land acquisition for offices in Northcentral, Northwest and Southwest Zones,   will cost N150,000,000 and office construction in two states both in the northcentral and southwest will cost N450,000,000.

    She said: “PenCom wishes to respectfully inform the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service that it was compelled, in its budgetary submission to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, to stay within the limits stipulated in the template forwarded to it by the Ministry.

    “However, due to the need for the Commission to expand its activities, we would like to request for the appropriation of the sum of N5,000,000,000.00 as Capital Subvention instead of the N750,000,000.00 allocated. The request is broken down into the following project components: Purchase/Acquisition of Land; Remodeling/Construction of Office Building; Remodeling of Head Office; Construction of Zonal Offices and Architectural and Other Development Costs,” she said.

  • Returns on savings excite RSAs

    Returns on savings excite RSAs

    PensionERS under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) are excited over the return on their savings.

    Under the Pension Reform Act 2014, they referred  to as Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders.

    An RSA, who simply identified himself as Korede, said despite withdrawing 25 per cent of his pension after he lost his job last September, his pension fund administrator (PFA)  has almost returned the money he withdrew 10 months after.

    He said: “I received 25 per cent of my pension balance in September last year from my PFA. Before I lost my job, I had N5.8 million as my pension balance. I received N1.37 million in September and my balance went down to N4.4 million.

    ‘’To my greatest surprise, in an SMS sent to me by my PFA for June this year balance showed that my pension had grown to N4.7 million in just 10 months. This shoed that my pension balance has increased by N300,000 representing a 6.8 per cent growth.

    ‘’I am amazed at this increase in my balance because I don’t think any bank in Nigeria today can pay me N300,000 as interest on N4.4 million in 10 months.”

    Another RSA, Francis, who lost his job three years ago, said he was paid N730, 000 as 25 per cent of his pension balance, but the amount in his balance has grown to N500, 000 as at June.

    “I lost my job in February 2013 and had N2.93 million in my pension account. Six months after, I requested for 25 per cent of my balance from my PFA. I was paid N730, 000, thus I had N2.2 million as at August of the same year. I was surprised when I received SMS from my PFA that my pension balance is now N2.7 million.

    “This means that my pension has grown by N500, 000 or 22.7 per cent in three years. It also means that my PFA has accumulated almost the 25 per cent that I received when I was out of job.’’

    Mrs. Folashade, a civil servant with Lagos State public service, said her pension has been growing since she came under the CPS about 10 years ago.

    She said she had worked for 25 years, but wished she had joined the scheme when she started work.

    Reacting to the expressions of the RSAs, Head Customer Unit, Crusader Pension Ltd, Femi Odukoya, said it was no surprise that returns on pension savings were huge as stated by the RSAs.

    “It simply goes to affirm the beauty of the new defined contributory scheme as enunciated in the PRA 2014 (as amended) and other regulations released by the National Pensions Commission (PenCom).

    “The investment of the Funds are  regulated by PenCom via an Investment Guidelines that details the assets classes, volume, ratings and others that PFAs could invest in. This is monitored by the Investment Monitoring Department of PenCom daily via electronic means.

    “However, within the investment regulations, some PFAs do understand the market more than the others, so this makes the difference in the revenues earned in favour of the contributors. Every PFA generates a daily price which is a function of how effectively it has invested the fund under its management. The fund price, ultimately, determines the value the owner gets at the point of the exit. That is the efficient Fund Manager-PFA’s price would be the highest when compared to its peers. “So, the higher the fund price, the higher the amount the contributors gets at the point of exit.”

  • Prepare your will, Stanbic Trustee advises RSAs, others

    Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited has reiterated the need for working Nigerians to be prudent by preparing a will that ensures that their assets are distributed to their beneficiaries according to their wishes when they pass on.

    Chief Executive, SITL, Mrs Binta Max-Gbinije, stated this yesterday at a press conference organised by the company in Lagos.

    She said the workers could avoid subjecting their beneficiaries to the rigours of going through the process of obtaining letter of administration from the probate court to authenticate their identity.

    She said the company’s Will Service covers the balance in Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders irrespective of their Pension Fund Administrator (PFA).

    She said there is also a comprehensive will, which covers the customer’s assets, including real estate, cash in bank, shares and private companies.

    She said trustees would ensure that families do not suffer while they are waiting for letters of administration which could take up to five years to process.

    She said: “We advise people to get a will. To get a will can take between three and six months and you will have a right of probate which goes to the National Pension Commission (PenCom). The Commission verifies that it is authentic, and instructs your PFA to pay on that basis. The beneficiary is then paid as it was stated in the will.

    “We advise people to get a will because if you don’t have a will and you die intestate, your beneficiary will be required to get a letter of administration. Where a person dies intestate, the process takes up to between one and five years for your beneficiary to get paid. The processing of getting a will is far better than going through the rigours of getting letter of administration and many families suffer as a result of this.”

    Mrs Max-Gbinije explained that there is a difference between next of kin (NoK) and a beneficiary. She said a NoK only serves as a contact person while the beneficiary is the one who will enjoy whatever is stated in the will.

    She said the firm’s trustee service guarantees peace of mind, knowing that one’s wealth would be distributed to the right people by one’s trustees.

    She explained that Stanbic Trustees provides estate planning and administration services offered as a private trust service to high net-worth individuals and group of individuals who may appoint us as trustee or executor of their estates.

    “We also leverage on our international parentage to offer trust services to foreign multinationals that require the services of a local based corporate trustee. We focus on providing institutional trust and loan agency services as well as estate planning and inter-generational wealth transfer. Our institutional trust service handles trustee agency functions in relation to debt issues and syndicated lending transactions, acting as a representative of the bond/other debt holders and group of banks/ financial institutions,” he said.