Kindly leave a comment and share
By Ivor Takor
We have been exposing State Governments’ status of implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in alphabetical order. Today we will be exposing the status of implementations of Edo, Ekiti and Enugu States.
EDO STATE
Edo state enacted the CPS law in 2010. The state however commenced the implementation of the CPS in February 2017 after the amendment of the law in 2017. The state has put in place other milestones towards full implementation of the CPS including the following:
• Established a Pension Bureau to oversee the process of implementation of the CPS;
• Has registered its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). However, three (3) self-funding agencies and eighteen (18) local government councils are yet to commence registration of their employees;
• Remitting 10% employer and 7.5% employees pension contributions;
• Conducted an Actuarial Valuation to determine the Accrued Pension Rights of employees that transited from the old Defined Benefits Scheme into CPS; and
• Has a valid Group Life Insurance Policy.
The state is yet to implement the following:
• Opened Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account (RBBRFA) and
• Funding the Accrued Pension Rights of the state public service employees.
The following persons have ruled Edo state as Governors from the time of the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 in 2004 to date.
1. Luck Nosakhare Igbinedion from 29 May, 1999 – 29 May, 2007
2. Oserheime Osunbor from 29 May, 2007 – 11 November, 2008
3. Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole from 12 November, 2008 – 12 November, 2016
4. Godwin Obaseki from 12 November, 2016 – Incumbent.
The state has a life pension law infavour of former Governors and former deputy Governors, which guarantees that these former political office holders of the state maintain lives of luxury through generous pension and other benefits.
EKITI STATE
Ekiti state enacted the CPS law in June 2010. The law was repealed and replaced with Ekiti State Pension Reform Law in 2017. The 2017 was also repealed and replaced with the Pension Law of 2022.
The state has put in place other milestones towards full implementation of the CPS including the following:
• Established Ekiti Pension Commission to drive the implementation of the law in the state.
• Has registered its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs);
• Remitting 10% employer and 8% employees pension contributions. However, self-funded agencies have backlogs of unmerited pension contributions from January 2019. What is not clear is wether the unremitting backlogs of contributions includes employees contributions;
• Conducted an Actuarial Valuation to determine the Accrued Pension Rights of employees that transited from the old Defined Benefits Scheme into CPS; and
• Has a valid Group Life Insurance Policy.
The state is yet to implement the following:
• Commenced funding of Accrued Pension Rights.
• Has a valid Group Life Insurance Policy for only 100 state employees. The criteria used in selecting the 100 employees is not known. There is no Group Life Insurance Policy for local governments employees.
The following persons have ruled Ekiti state as Governors from the time of the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 in 2004 to date.
1. Niyi Adebayo from 29 May, 1999 – 29 May, 2003.
2. Ayo Fayose from 29 May, 2003 – 16 October, 2006.
3. Friday Aderemi (Acting) from 17 October, 2006 – 18 October, 2006.
4. Tunji Olurin (Administrator) from 18 October, 2006 – 27 April, 2007.
5. Tope Ademiluyi (Acting) 27 April, 2007 – 29 May, 2007.
6. Segun Oni from 29 May, 2007 – 15 October, 2010.
7. Kayode Fayemi from 15 October, 2010 – 16 October, 2014.
8. Ayo Fayose from 16 October, 2014 – 16 October, 2018.
9. Kayode Fayemi from 16 October, 2014 – 16 October, 2022.
10. Biodun Oyebanji from 16 October, 2022 – Incumbent.
ENUGU STATE
Enugu state enacted the Enugu State Pension Reform Law (2014) on 4 March, 2014 and is yet to implement any other milestone towards the full implementation of the CPS including the following:
• Yet to establish a Pension Bureau to oversee the process of implementation of the CPS;
• Yet to commence the registration of its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs;
• Yet to commence the remittance of pension contributions;
• Yet to conduct an Actuarial Valuation to determine the Accrued Pension Rights of employees that would be transiting into CPS;
• Yet to open Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account; and
• Yet to commence funding of Accrued Rights; and
• Yet to institute a Group Life Insurance Policy.
Nineteen years after the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 that was of universal application in the federal and states public services in 2004, Enugu state only enacted a law on the CPS for the state public servants in 2014 and stopped at that level.
The following persons have ruled Enugu state as Governors from the time of the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 in 2004 to date.
1. Chimaroke Namani from 29 May, 1999 – 29 May, 2007.
2. Sullivan Chime from 29 May, 2007 – 29 May, 2015.
3. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi from 29 May, 2015 – 29 May, 2023.
4. Peter Mbah from 29 May, 2023 – Incumbent.
The state has a life pension law infavour of former Governors and former deputy Governors, which guarantees that these former political office holders of the state maintain lives of luxury through generous pension and other benefits.
Section 210(1) of the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, provides that “Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the right of a person in the public service of a state to receive pension or gratuity shall be regulated by law.
Subsection (2) provides that “Any benefit to which a person is entitled in accordance with or under such law as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall not be withheld or altered to his disadvantage except as is permissible under any law, including the code of conduct.”
Subsection (3) provides that “Pension shall be reviewed every five years or together with any State Civil Service salary reviews, whichever is earlier.”
Key pension information were sourced from PenCom website.
Takor was a two term President of NASU, a two term National Treasurer of NLC and an member of the inaugural Board of PenCom. Takor retired as a Director in federal public service and is now a Lagos-based legal practitioner. He is an alumnus of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru-JOS, Plateau State.
