COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF ANNUAL WORKSHOP FOR FINANCE, INSURANCE AND LABOUR CORRESPONDENTS AND BUSINESS EDITORS (FICAN) AND NATIONAL PENSION COMMISSION (PENCOM) INTERACTIVE SESSION HELD AT REIZ CONTINENTAL HOTEL IN ABUJA

COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF ANNUAL WORKSHOP FOR FINANCE, INSURANCE AND LABOUR CORRESPONDENTS AND BUSINESS EDITORS (FICAN) AND NATIONAL PENSION COMMISSION (PENCOM) INTERACTIVE SESSION HELD AT REIZ CONTINENTAL HOTEL IN ABUJA

A one-day workshop was organized by the National Pension Commission for the Finance, Insurance and Labour Correspondents and Business Editors on Wednesday, 17 October, 2012 at Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja. The theme of this year’s workshop was “Effective Administration of Benefits under the Pension Reform Act 2004”. The workshop was attended by over Ninety (90) Correspondents and Business Editors from the various media organizations.

At the opening ceremony, the Director General, National Pension Commission welcomed participants to the Fourth run of the interactive workshop. He highlighted the main objectives of organising the Workshop as providing a platform to interact with the general public through the media as well as discuss the Commission’s achievements, challenges and receive feedback on the performance in the supervision and regulation of pension matters in Nigeria.

During this workshop, the following major issues were highlighted:

    1.        The participants noted the efforts made so far by PenCom in securing the compliance of employers to the provisions of the PRA 2004. The participants however saw the need for increased level of compliance and pledged their support for PenCom to take appropriate measures, including legal action against defaulting employers.

    2.        The Contributory Pension Scheme has 5.28 million Nigerians registered with 54,558 retirees from the public and private sectors, who have received a total of N151.52 billion as lump sum payments and about N1.77billion as monthly pension. Furthermore, assets worth N2.94 trillion have been accumulated as at the end of September, 2012.

    3.        The Commission has successfully completed its goal to raise the Capital requirements for the Pension Fund Administrations from a minimum of N150 million to N1billion.

    4.        The Commission has issued the Regulation for the Transfer of Retirement Savings Account and the document is currently available on the Commission’s website. Asoftware is being developed to ensure a seamless transfer, the estimated date for opening of the transfer window is December, 2012.

    5.        The Commission continued to collaborate with state Governments in their efforts to implement the Contributory Pension Scheme and gained enormous support from sister regulatory agencies and the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) ensuring successful implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria.

    6.        So far, 21 states have adopted the Contributory Pension Scheme while 14 others are at various levels of enacting their CPS laws.

    7.        The Guidelines for fund accounting had been issued in order to streamline record keeping in the pension industry.

    8.        The Commission commenced the issuance of compliance certificates and had appointed agents to recover outstanding pension contributions with penalties.

    9.        The Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets was expanded to include alternative asset classes as part of the allowable investment outlets.

 10.        Four categories of multiple funds are being introduced including aggressive fund for young contributors and balanced fund for contributors under 50 years; retiree fund for contributors above 50 years and the ethical fund based on sharia Islamic principles.

 11.        The Commission has attained an advanced stage in the establishment of functional zonal offices in the six geo-political zones.

 12.        The process of setting up the Pension Transition Arrangement Department (PTAD) as provided by section 30 of the PRA 2004 has made significant progress.