Kaduna – The National Pension Commission (PenCom) on Wednesday in Kaduna said pensioners would soon access homes, using part of their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balances as equity contributions.
The Director-General of PENCOM, Mrs Chinelo Anahu-Amazu, said this at a one-day sensitisation to the 2014 Pension Reform Act (PRA) for stakeholders in the North-West Zone in Kaduna.
Amazu said that the PRA 2014 had introduced a provision that allowed contributors seeking to own their primary homes, to apply part of their RSA balances as equity contribution for residential mortgages.
She said the PRA 2014 had also been reviewed to upgrade the minimum rate of pension contribution and the sanctions and penalties against infractions of the provisions of the Act.
“I am pleased to inform that we are on the verge of concluding these guidelines, having discussed extensively with all stakeholders including experts in the mortgage industry.
“Once implementation commences, it is our expectation this would facilitate access to home ownership by pension contributors while also bridging the housing deficit in Nigeria,’’ she said.
According to her, the Act provides novel solutions to what appeared then, as intractable challenges of the Old Defined Benefit Scheme.
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It instituted the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and established PenCom as the regulator of pensions in Nigeria.
“The quest for delivering better pensions to retirees guided by experiences garnered in the 10 years of implementation of the pension reform necessitated the revision of the 2004 Act.
“After an extensive review, stakeholder consultations and legislative scrutiny, the new Pension Reform Act was enacted, which came into effect on 1st July 2014.
“This conference, therefore, commences the sensitisation of our major stakeholders in the North-West geopolitical zone on the new provisions contained in the Pension Reform Act 2014.’’
She, however, appealed to states and local government areas in the North-West zone to adopt the scheme to avoid future pension liabilities.
“I would like to fervently appeal to all the states and local governments in the North-West Zone that are yet to adopt or implement the CPS to immediately comply, to avail their employees of the numerous benefits of the scheme.
“The need for more efficiency in managing finances has never been greater than now, given the lean available public resources.
“The adoption of CPS by states is one effective tool of managing finances by paying monthly pension contributions into employees’ RSAs as opposed to settling these huge liabilities at the point of retirement.
“In our quest to assist the states in guided implementation, PenCom has established functional offices in the six geo-political zones, including Kano for the North-West Zone,’’ she said.
The conference has as its theme: “The Pension Reform Act, 2014; Innovations and Improvements to Nigeria’s Pension Sector.’’
She said the challenge of instituting effective and sustainable pension systems remained in the country and most African countries.
“We are working at providing necessary incentives with requisite flexibility in terms of access, to encourage informal sector works to embrace the Micro Pensions for future economic security.
“It is noteworthy that many states in the federation have adopted the Contributory Pension Scheme and are at various stages of its implementation.
“The PRA 2014 gives additional impetus for participation in the CPS by explicitly prescribing the coverage of states and local government employees, in addition to the federal public service and private sector,’’ Amazu said.
Amazu commended Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai for supporting the commission’s initiatives and the commitment to the success of the pension reform and the welfare of Nigerian workers.
“As we remain focused on our core mandate of implementing the Contributory Pension Scheme and ensuring effective pension administration in Nigeria, the support from stakeholders has been very encouraging indeed,’’ she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the North-West Zone conference in Kaduna is the fifth in the series, scheduled for the geo-political zones.
The previous four editions of the conference were successfully held in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Uyo. (NAN)