FG Approves Outstanding Payments Under Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS)

The Federal Government has approved the payments of outstanding pension liabilities under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) through a Presidential order.

This was disclosed by the Head of Corporate Communication at the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mr Peter Aghahowa, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

PenCom disclosed that it wishes to inform all its stakeholders, particularly retirees of Treasury-funded Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved PenCom’s submission.

They added that the approval was on the payment of some critical aspects of the outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government under the CPS specifically

What PenCom is saying

“Payment of the outstanding accrued pension rights was for verified and enrolled retirees of treasury-funded MDAs retired but yet to be paid their benefits and backlog of death benefits due to beneficiaries of deceased employees.

Payment of 2.5 per cent differential in the rate of employer pension contribution for Federal Government retirees and employees resulted from an increase in the minimum pension contribution for employers from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent in line with Section 4 of the Pension Reform Act, (PRA) 2014.

Payments for retirees and existing employees would begin from July 2014,” Mr Aghahowa stated.

PenCom added that the FG was expected to continue with the payment of the 10 per cent rate of employer pension contribution for its employees, thus ensuring remittance of at least 18 per cent monthly (employer 10 per cent and employee 8 per cent) as provided by the PRA 2014.

“The settlement of the outstanding accrued pension rights of verified and enrolled FGN retirees and compliance with the reviewed rate of pension contributions are significant developments, that have resolved the challenges in these aspects that have lingered since 2014,” PenCom said.

What you should know

Nairametrics reported earlier that the federal government through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) announced that it received the sum of £26.5 million as repatriated pension funds from Crown Agents Investment Management (CAIM).