PenCom opens new office in Ilorin

Chuks Udo Okonta

 

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said its North Central Zonal Office in Ilorin, Kwara State, has been opened.

 

A statement by its Head, Communication Unit, Emeka Onuora, said the office which is located at plot 1 Aderemi Adeleye Street, off Fate Road, Government Reservation Area (GRA) Ilorin, was declared open by the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed.

 

He noted that the office was the second to be inaugurated among the Commission’s Zonal offices, in the six geo-political areas of the country, adding that the first to be inaugurated was the Calabar Zonal office for the South-South zone.

 

He said Governor Ahmed commended PenCom for the office and noted that the initiative would remove the need for the people from the zone travelling to Abuja on pension matters.

 

According to him, he said the Governor also disclosed that Kwara State government had concluded arrangements for the take off of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the state, once the bill is passed into law by the state assembly.

 

 

The Acting Director General of the commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, remarked that only Niger State had fully complied with the Compulsory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the North Central zone. She appealed to other states in the zone to adopt the scheme to avail their employees of its many benefits.

 

She said the Commission is currently exploring the possibility of allowing contributors to utilise part of their Retirement Savings Accounts balances to part-finance the acquisition of low-cost houses.

 

 “It is our expectation that when they eventually come on stream, these facilities would be availed to states that have fully implemented the scheme,” she said.

 

The Vice Chairman House Committee on Pension, Samson Okwu, commended the achievements of the Contributory Pension Scheme within its 8 years of existence. He urged state governments of the zone to embrace the scheme.

 

The vice President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Issa Aremu, said that the old pension scheme - Pay As You Go system must give way to the CPS where the future of pension in this country lies. He urged PenCom to ensure compliance by employers of labour, noting that those who don’t comply must be sanctioned.

PenCom had embarked on the establishment of Zonal offices in all the six geo-political zones of the country to decentralise its activities and bring it closer to the contributors and retirees. With the Commission’s presence in the North Central zone, it expects all stakeholders to avail themselves of its services by visiting its office to make enquiries, lodge complaints, and seek education to the Contributory Pension Scheme and request for sensitisation and awareness on pension and related matters.

 

 

 

Other zonal offices of the Commission are located at Awka for South-East, Lagos for South West, Gombe for North-East, Kano for North West and Calabar for South-South.

 

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