Enugu – Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has promised to fully implement the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 for public servants in the state as well as the private sector.
Speaking at the South East stakeholders’ conference on the Act in Enugu on Thursday, Ugwuanyi said that the state legislature had since set the machinery in motion by passing the Enugu State Pension Act 2014.
He said that pension was essential for social security and should be taken seriously by any government.
He also said that the abuse of the old pension scheme necessitated “the radical reform’’ in 2004 which gave rise to the 2014 amendment.
The governor also called on his colleagues in the geo-political zone to adopt the Act and ensure its implementation in the interest of the populace.
Speaking earlier, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, wondered why none of the five states in the zone had attained full implementation of the scheme.
Anohu-Amazu called on the states to immediately embrace the scheme, saying that the commission had established offices in the six-geo-political zones equipped to provide technical assistance.
She said that the conference was organised to sensitise the people of the zone on the provision of the 2014 Act, which had expressly prescribed the coverage of employees of states and local governments.
The Act, among other things, also seeks to establish a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for the administration and payment of retirement benefits to public and private sector workers.
She said the conference, billed for the six geo-political zones of the country, had earlier held in Lagos and Abuja. (NAN)