Pension payments to retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in Nigeria grew by 22 percent to N14.83 billion per month, according to the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
This was revealed during a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday by Omolola Oloworaran, the Director-General of PenCom.
She said that the monthly pension payments to retired government employees rose from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion, a 22 percent increase, during the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
She claims that the pension industry’s problems, especially those impacting average Nigerians, have been significantly alleviated as a result of reforms implemented in the previous two years.
Her example was the 1,173% increase, from N18,000 to N206,000, in pension payments for beneficiaries of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) after 21 years.
A pension rise has been granted to all retirees in the Contributory Pension Scheme for the first time. Over 241,000 pensioners saw an increase to their monthly pensions as a result of Pension Boost 1.0. The overall amount paid out in pensions each month increased 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 approximately N18,000 a month now receives nearly N206,000. Twenty-one years of waiting, answered in a single decision,” she said.
Oloworaran also stated that the commission had automated the imposition of penalties on firms in Nigeria who failed to remit workers’ pension contributions.
She noted that PenCom was boosting efforts to guarantee that complaints linked to the Contributory Pension Scheme were answered within 24 hours.