PenCom’s Payment To Beneficiaries Of Deceased Employees Hits N328bn

From inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme to the end of 2022, the National Pension Commission has granted approvals for payment of death benefits amounting to N328.05bn to the legal beneficiaries/administrator of 86,610 deceased employees and retirees.

This is based on figures obtained from the Commission by THE WHISTLER on Tuesday.

This is just as the Commission, from the beginning of the CPS to 31 December 2022, revealed that 105,047 retirees chose the annuity mode of pension payment.

The harsh business operating environment coupled with high inflation rate and low purchasing power, forex volatility, among others, have forced companies to reduce staff strength, thereby, throwing more people into the already saturated labour market.

To this end, the disengaged workers have resorted to their pension contributions by accessing 25 per cent of their pension savings.

Some of the beneficiaries invested their money in their business ideas in a bid to be self-employed, while some used it to meet their more immediate financial needs pending when they get a better job offer.

Also, a lump sum of N201.43bn was approved by the Commission for payment to the retirees.

Similarly, about N615.78bn was approved for payment to RLA Providers as premiums in return for monthly annuities of N6.24bn, while approval was given to 319,833 requests from retirees to draw pension through PW mode.

The retirees received a total lump sum of N908.04bn, while their monthly pensions amounted to N14.18bn.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has, in line with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA 2014), established procedures and requirements for Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders to access their retirement benefits as and when due.

Section 7(1) of the PRA 2014 states that an RSA holder shall utilize the amount credited to his RSA upon retirement or attaining the age of 50 years, whichever is later.

The RSA holder can withdraw a lump sum from the total amount credited to his RSA, provided that the amount left after the lump sum withdrawal shall be sufficient to procure a Programmed Fund Withdrawal (PW) or Retiree Life Annuity (RLA) for life.

The PW provides the RSA holder with a monthly or quarterly pension calculated based on life expectancy. At the same time, the RLA purchased from a life insurance company offers a monthly or quarterly pension for life.