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Chuks Udo Okonta
Disengaged workers who are privileged to subscribed to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) now resort to 25 per cent withdrawal provided by the law for survival, Inspen can report.
One of the disengaged workers from Ilorin, Kwara State, yesterday, called Inspenonline’s Office to ascertain where the Office of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) is located in the State to enable him fill request for withdrawal of 25 per cent of his contributions.
He noted that for the past four months, he has being out of job and that he need money to meet his daily needs.
Just like the caller, the economic recession has thrown many workers into the saturated unemployment market, making it difficult for them to carter for their needs.
According to the Managing Director, FUG Pensions Limited, Usman Suleiman, Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are presently battling to meet the high requests of disengaged workers.
“We now have a higher rate of pay-out because those who are laid off would come along to ask for 25 per cent of the balances in their account if they fail to get job after four month as stipulated in the PRA. And they are not likely to get jobs within the period of four month but for those who remain in employment and salaries are being paid pension will be remitted,” he said.
According to PenCom 50 per cent of documents it processed last year were from disengaged workers.
Head, Benefits and Insurance Department, PenCom, Olulana Loyinmi, said the increase in the number of contributors applying for the 25 per cent of their pension contributions was as a result of increase in the number of people that have lost their jobs.
“On the magnitude of people who have made temporary access to their retirement savings account in the form of withdrawals of 25 per cent, the latest figure as at September, 2016 is 177,000,which when compared to the number of people who have actually retired and are getting their pension, the figure are almost the same.
“That is an indication of how people are losing their jobs or are getting disengaged and having waited for about four months without getting another job, they resort to access their retirement account. If you measure in number, the documents we process, it is almost about half (50%) of activities of the commission since January,” he said.
It was gathered that greater parts of the over N49.55 billion pension benefits paid by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to disengaged workers went to junior staff.
PenCom said since the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), over N49.55 billion has been paid to 177,000 disengaged Nigerian workers who could not secure a new job after four months.
PenCom stressed that in the first quarter of 2016, it granted approval for the payment of N3.32 billion to 10,481 Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders under the age of 50 years who were disengaged and were unable to secure another job within four months disengagement.
The commission noted that the private sector accounted for 95.55 per cent (152,262) of the disengaged RSA holders, who received a total of N49.55 billion being 25 per cent of their RSA balances as at the time they were disengage.
The regulator said over 270 of the disengaged workers were the federal government employment; over 282 from the states and over 9929 from the private sector which is over 10,481 workers and payment of over N3.32 billion.
