Lagos remits N75bn pension contributions to PFAs

By Abdul Olalekan

The Lagos State Government has remitted N75 billion as pension contributions from both employees and employer (being the Lagos State) to some Pension Fund Administrators(PFAs) across the country.

The Commissioner of Establishments, Training and Pensions, Lagos State, Dr. Benson Akintola, who stated this at the 34th Retirement Benefit Bond Certificate Presentation Ceremony in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, where N1.9 billion bond certificates were presented to 495 retirees, added that the state is very much committed to the regular contribution of the monthly deduction of 7.5 per cent from the salary of employees and the payment of the employer’s 7.5 contribution.

The N75 billion, he said, was the total contribution remitted to the PFAs from April 2007 to date. The Commissioner also noted that the state expended about N132.84 billion on employees’ pension rights under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in a period of nine years.

Noting that in the last 16 months, from August 2015 to November 2016, the state had paid accrued pension rights of N21.929 billion to 5027 retirees, he added that as at November 2016, accrued pension rights of about N55.94 billion had been paid to 12,426 retirees by the state government since the commencement of payment of entitlements in the contributory pension scheme in 2010.

The Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, told the retirees to consider their certificates as passports to financial empowerment, stressing that the presentation of the certificates marks a turning point in their lives.

She noted that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who is also a retiree, knows the importance of pension and had pledged to ensure that retirees in the state enjoy their entitlements to enable them have comfortable lifestyle in old age.

Onanuga said the state through the commission has paid to named beneficiaries of deceased employees, insurance benefits worth over N144 million, adding that the state is set to pay another N56.1 million death benefits at the event, which would bring the total sum to approximately N170 million.

“The insured death of 320 per cent of the terminal salary of a deceased staff is designed by law to be paid to alleviate the immediate needs of the family members left behind. The estate of a deceased staff is also entitled to receive the balance in the retirement account and accrued rights due, if the employee had joined service before the commencement of the contributory pension scheme,” she said.