Establishment of zonal offices deliberate attempt to facilitate compliance – PenCom

The establishment of zonal offices in all the six geopolitical zones of the country is a deliberate attempt to encourage and facilitate compliance with the Contributory Pension Scheme, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, acting director-general, National Pension Commission has said.

Anohu-Amazu who disclosed this at the official commissioning of the North-West Zonal Office in Kano said the contributory pension scheme is one of the most remarkable initiatives of government to bolster productivity and enhance industrial harmony, regretting that only three out of the seven states in the North-West zone have recorded appreciable milestone in the scheme.

“The Commission expects the states in the North-West zone to renew their commitment by ensuring the speedy implementation of the CPS in order not to shut out their citizens from the benefits of a hassle-free retirement. She therefore appealed to Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to spearhead the compliance of the states in the North-West zone with the Contributory Pension Scheme.”

The Commission located on 22 Kazaure Road, off Barracks Road, Bompai, has the mandate to effectively extend the Commission’s services to all the seven states in the zone namely – Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states.Governor Kwankwaso, the who expressed delight at the sitting of the North-West zonal office in Kano assured the Commission of the state government’s support in its pension reform activities, promising to re-examine the status of the state in terms of compliance with the contributory pension Scheme with a view to fully embracing the Scheme.

Jigawa state which was the first out of the 36 states in the federation to enact its law on the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2005, had appointed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to manage the pension funds which have a total value of N16.49 billion as at September, 2013. Kaduna state adopted the CPS and enacted its law in 2007.

It has also made significant progress in its implementation of the CPS, having registered 143,722 employees under the Scheme, with pension contributions of N9.46 billion as at October, 2013.

The state had conducted an actuarial valuation and determined the accrued pension rights of its employees for their service prior to the CPS and established a Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund which currently has a balance of N1.6 billion.

The state is however, yet to put in place, a group life insurance policy for its employees. Although Zamfara state adopted the CPS, enacted its law in 2005 and registered 63,254 employees under the Scheme and remitted N534.4 million as employee portion of the Pension Contributions as at November, 2013, it is yet to commence remittance of employer portion of Pension Contributions from the commencement of the CPS.

It has also not put in place a group life insurance policy for its employees. Sokoto state enacted its law on the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2007 and registered 46,808 employees with PFAs under the Scheme. The state is yet to commence remittance of the Pension Contributions.

With regards to Kebbi state, it enacted its law on CPS in 2009 and registered almost 38,000 employees with PFAs under the Scheme. It has however not commenced the remittance of pension contributions. The status of Kano state shows that it enacted its law on the CPS in 2006.

It is however, yet to appoint PFAs and has not transferred pension funds for management. Katsina state drafted a bill on the Contributory Pension Scheme which was reviewed by the Commission and found to be largely in conformity with the Pension Reform Act 2004 (PRA).

It has however not translated the bill into law. The compliance status of the states in the North-West zone as indicated clearly shows the imperative for the states to expedite action on the full implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme.