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PenOp remits N260bn to retirees

By on May 6, 2015

THE Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, PenOp, says it has remitted N260 billion of the contributory pension fund to retirees from the inception of the scheme till March 2015.
The Association made this disclosure at the 2015 May Day celebration in Lagos, where it also urged all employers and workers alike to join in the scheme to secure a future for them (selves) when they retire.
Speaking, Executive Secretary, PenOp, Susan Oranye, said the contributory pension scheme, which has existed for about 11 years, has recorded its successes.
According to her, “they (Pension administrators) have paid almost N260 billion to retirees from the inception to March 2015. As at last year, we had 5.5million contributors in the contributory pension scheme, it has gone up to 6.4 million and we have just ended the first quarter.”
Speaking about workers in the informal sector, Oranye pointed out that the informal sector contributes to bulk of the Nigerian economy which she said cannot be ignored, adding that there has to be a framework that caters for the uniqueness of the informal sector.
Informal sector
In this regard, she assured that the National Pension Commission and PenOp are collaborating and working on a framework that will accommodate the informal sector, so that everybody who work will have the opportunity to set up a retirement savings account. The framework is being discussed among the operators, stakeholders and the National Pension Commission.
Oranye said the essence of PenOp’s involvement in the May Day celebration is to celebrate the Nigerian worker, celebrate the hard work that Nigerians go through every day and to encourage them to prepare for the future. “As you work very hard today, you must remember that there will be a time when you can’t work as hard as you work today. When you retire and your salary stops coming in, you will still need to cater for some other needs. That is the essence of having a pension,” she explained.
She further explained that it is 8 percent of the worker’s basic salary, housing and transport and the employer is required to match it with 10 percent of that same emolument and that goes into employee’s account.

[Vanguard]