Nigeria’s National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said monthly pension payments to retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) increased by 22 per cent to N14.83 billion.
The Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Tuesday during a briefing in Abuja.
She said that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, monthly pension payments to retirees who had worked for the country increased by N2.68 billion, representing a 22 per cent rise from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion.
According to her, reforms introduced in the pension sector over the past two years have considerably reduced the challenges facing the industry, particularly those affecting ordinary Nigerians.
She cited the increase in monthly pension payments to pensioners under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) by 1,173 per cent, from N18,000 to N206,000, after 21 years.
“For the first time, retirees across the Contributory Pension Scheme have received a pension increase across the board. Pension Boost 1.0 raised the monthly pensions of more than 241,000 retirees. Total monthly pension payments rose from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion.
“Combined monthly pensions for 2,116 NSITF retirees rose from N12.56 million to N159.95 million, and N8.70 billion in arrears has been paid. One retiree who received about N18,000 a month now receives about N206,000. Twenty-one years of waiting, answered in a single decision,” she said.
Oloworaran also noted that the commission had automated the imposition of penalties on employers in Nigeria who failed to remit workers’ pension contributions.
She added that PenCom was strengthening efforts to ensure that complaints relating to the Contributory Pension Scheme were addressed within 24 hours.
CPS: Retirees’ monthly pension payments rise 22% under Tinubu – PenCom