The National Pension Commission has said that the Federal Government has given an order to clear the outstanding pensions of its retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
PenCom said this on Wednesday in a statement titled ‘Presidential approval for payment of outstanding pension liabilities under the Contributory Pension Scheme’.
It informed all its stakeholders, particularly retirees of treasury-funded Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) had approved PenCom’s submission on the payment of some critical aspects of the outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The statement said, “Specifically, the President has approved payment of outstanding accrued pension rights for verified and enrolled retirees of treasury-funded MDAs that retired but are yet to be paid their retirement benefits, as well as the back log of death benefits claims due to beneficiaries of deceased employees of treasury funded MDAs.
“Payment of 2.5 per cent differential in the rate of employer pension contribution for FGN retirees and employees which resulted from the increase in the minimum pension contribution for employers from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent in line with Section 4(1) of the PRA 2014.
‘Payments for retirees and existing employees would take effect from July 2014.”
PenCom noted that subsequently, the Federal Government was expected to continue with the payment of the 10 per cent rate of employer pension contribution for its employees, ensuring a remittance of at least 18 per cent monthly (employer 10 per cent and employee eight per cent) as provided by the PRA 2014.
It stated that funds had already been made available for the settlement of the above stated pension liabilities.
The PUNCH had last week reported that the Federal Government was disobeying the 2014 law by failing to raise the remittances into workers’ pensions accounts to 18 per cent.
Accordingly, it added, remittance into the various Retirement Savings Accounts of the affected retirees and employees was currently being processed.
PenCom stated that the affected retirees and employees would be notified in due course by their respective Pension Fund Administrators.
The settlement of the outstanding accrued pension rights of verified and enrolled FGN retirees and compliance with the reviewed rate of pension contributions were significant developments that had resolved the challenges in these aspects that have lingered since 2014, it stated.
PUNCH
