Lagos wins gold award at world pension summit

Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola 3rd (left) Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions, Mrs Florence Oguntuase (2nd left), Director-General Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) Rotimi Adekunle (3rd right) Executive Director Finance & Investment ,Dr. Adekunle Wright (2nd left) PS CSPO, Mrs Folasade Adesoye (1st right) and Executive Director Technical LASPEC Mrs. Folashade Onanuga (1st left) during the best state in pension administration award presentation at the Benquet Hall, Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Chuks Udo Okonta

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) has awarded a gold trophy to the Lagos State Government for emerging the best State out of the 36 States of the Federation to fully adopt and implemented the Contributory Pension Scheme in compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2004.

A statement by the Press and Public Relations Officer Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) Taofeek Lawal, said the award which was received on behalf of the State by His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), took place at the Banquet Hall of the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, during a dinner organized to commemorate the tenth year anniversary of the establishment of the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria.

The award was organized as part of the activities lined up for the just concluded World Pension Summit ‘Africa Special’ in Abuja, between 7^{th and 8th July, 2014.}

It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government has from inception of the scheme in 2007 till date, contributed N51,640,229,895.03k (Fifty-One Billion, Six Hundred and Forty Million, Two Hundred and Twenty-Nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety-Five Naira, Three Kobo only) being the monthly deduction of 7.5 per cent from the salary of every employee and the counterpart 7.5 per cent contribution by the State Government into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of every employee with the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).

The State had also paid a total sum of N26, 216,496,307.69k (Twenty-Six Billion, Two Hundred and Sixteen Million, Four Hundred and Ninety-Six Thousand, Three Hundred and Seven Naira, Sixty-Nine Kobo) only, being past service benefits prior to the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme to 4,990 retirees.

Commissioner for Estab, Training & Pension, Mrs. Florence Oguntuase(4th Left), Director General LASPEC, Mr. Rotimi Hussain(4th right) and other top dignitaries in a group photograph.

The World Pension Summit which was hosted by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) brought together all the Pension administrators across the world with a view to finding solutions to how African countries can best deploy pension funds into risk-free or near risk-free investment outlets, especially on infrastructure and real estate.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was also given an award for establishing the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2004, expressed the hope that by 2024 when the CPS would be 20 years, the number of workers in both public and private sectors under the scheme would have quadrupled its present number. He also expressed his joy that since inception, the scheme has not been associated with fraud.

Other states that received award at the dinner include Niger and Delta State while former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and the pioneer Chairman of the National Pension Commission, Mr. Fola Adeola were among other individuals also awarded for playing a big role in the establishment and implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria.

Some of the topics treated at the World Pension Summit include; The Role of Pension in Economic Development, Africa Regulatory Dialogue, ‘The new Agenda’, Pension Funds Investment for Infrastructure and Real Estate, Risk Management and Pension Funds, Social Security Reform and Technology in Pensions.

From left: Executive Director Technical LASPEC Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, ,ED. Finance & Investment ,Dr. Adekunle Wright,DG. LASPEC, Mr. Rotimi Hussain and Mrs.Adeola Adeleke, Snr. Technical staff in a group photograph

Others are and Strategy Communications and Reputation Management in Pensions Administration, Role of Multi-Pillar Pensions, Pension Administration ‘The Nigerian Story’ and Realising a sustainable Pension Strategy. Overall, it was a very successful summit.