No fewer than 8.5 million people have been enrolled into the Pension Contributory Scheme since inception, Mr. Peter Aghahowa, Head of Communication Department of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said.
Aghahowa said on Friday at ongoing Enugu International Trade Fair that the scheme had made the life of retirees much easier, unlike the defined benefits scheme which it replaced.
The scheme introduced in 2004 by the Federal Government was a process where certain percentage of the enrollees’ salaries were saved on monthly basis in a pool with the employers also contributing.
The scheme has PenCom as the regulatory body with Pension Fund Administrators working in their behest.
He, however, said it was sad that in spite of the enormous advantages inherent in the scheme, some state governments had yet to embrace it to make life better for retirees in their respective states.
“The federal government went into the contributory scheme as the old scheme became unsustainable due to huge debt deposits.
“This new scheme is funded ab initio and it reduces the financial load on government,” he said.
Aghahowa said that it had become imperative for every state of the federation to queue into the scheme for easy pension administration.
He, however, said that in spite of current challenges facing certain pensioners under the old scheme, more funds were being released for pensioners that started under the defined benefits scheme.
MM/GIK/APA