Longe
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Chuks Udo Okonta
Pension contributions by the private sector have shore up implementation of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 to 60 per cent, Inspen can report.
The President Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) Eguarekhide Longe, said this in an interview with this medium, adding that the government is yet to fully embrace the law.
He also noted that much has not been achieved in the aspect of the law which mandates employers with three employees to embrace the scheme.
“I will put the level of compliance at 60 per cent from the private sector side. On the government side, the federal government has said it could not comply with the new 18 per cent minimum, however, it would note the time for which it were supposed to comply and when it starts complying, the backlog would be paid. I think that situation still remains.
“The government has not complied with the 18 per cent yet, it is still paying 15 per cent. Most state governments have also not start paying the 18 per cent.
“A lot of private people are finding it difficult to pay pensions, so the 18 per cent is a challenge for some, but as I said earlier, about 60 per cent had began to pay the 18 per cent.
“As far as compliance to the new law is concerned, especially the integration of employers with three employees and below into the scheme, I would not say there has been a significant growth in accordance with that part of the regulation. But there is a lot of work directed at generating compliance from that sector which is largely on the informal sector.”
The PenOp boss called on the public to have faith in the contributory pension scheme, which has helped stemmed the unwholesome challenges retirees suffer in accessing their pension benefits.
