FG Releases N14.92bn For Pension Arrears Payment

The Federal Government has released the sum of N14.92bn for the payment of accrued rights for retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The release of the fund was confirmed on Monday by the National Pension Commission.

According to a document by the commission and seen by THE WHISTLER, the amount released would cover the payment of four months arrears.

The accrued right is the total amount the Federal Government owes its workers that have been in service before the commencement of the Pension Reform Act, 2004 which was reviewed and re-enacted in 2014.

The unending wait for payment of pensions after retirement under the Contributory Pension Scheme brought undue hardships to some senior citizens who served the Federal Government in their active years.

Many of these retirees, have since retired for more than a year.

However the commission said it was limited in the payment of retirees’ accrued rights as it could not force the Federal Government to comply with the new contribution rate.

The commission had said that since the review of 2004 pension reform Act in which the government’s contribution to workers Retirement Savings Account was upgraded from 15 per cent to 18 per cent, the Federal Government was yet to commence its implementation as its contribution to employees RSA has remained at 15 per cent.

But with the Federal Government’s approval, the amount for each retiree will be transferred into their Retirement Savings Account with the Pension Fund Administrators.