Release N66bn pension – Shekarau begs Buhari

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Pension, Rep. Hassan
Shekarau, has appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to release the
N66 billion needed to settle the accrued backlog of pension for 2017
retirees.

Shekarau made the appeal at the opening of 2018 Conference for
Directors of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) organised by the
National Pension Commission (PenCom) on Tuesday in Lagos, NAN reports.

He applauded the introduction of Pension Reform Act of 2004 repealed
by that of 2014 Act, saying the backlog needed to be settled to uphold
the confidence of Nigerians in the pension scheme.

The lawmaker, however, said the president should be appreciated for
releasing N54 billion in April 2017, to clear the backlog of accrued
pension rights.

"However, the money was only able to settle part of 2014, 2015 and
2016 accrued pension rights," he said

Shekarau, who is representing Birnin-Gwari and Giwa Federal
Constituency in Kaduna State, restated that the greatest challenge
confronting pension administration was, "Accrued Pension Rights."

"Also, it faces the five per cent increment on pension for retirees
under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and 33 per cent increment
on retirees Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

"I passionately appeal to the president to give priority to the debt
and release the N66 billion estimate submitted by PenCom to settle the
accrued rights obligation.

"we urge practitioners to ensure they strictly adhere to the
resolutions reached at the conference.Any action outside international
best practices for pension operators in Nigeria would not be
accepted," Shekarau added.