By Henry Uche
The Conference of Civil Society of Nigeria (CCSN) has identified the National Pension Commission (PenCom) as one of the top performing agencies of the Nigerian government. A statement from PenCom confirmed the CSOs disclosed this in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari dated December 19, 2022.
The CCSN, which is a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) crusading for good governance and transparency, said PenCom “stands out as one of the most ambitious financial inclusion programmes targeted at the Civil Society and the informal sector of any developing economy in the world.”
The letter signed by the CCSN’s Chairperson, Comrade Adams Otakwu, and two other members of the coalition, John Ogar and Acheme Arumona, revealed that PenCom “has become synonymous with positive, transparent and goal-oriented pension administration in Nigeria,”
Also the coalition observed that PenCom embodies, “a welcome departure from the humongous corruption and inhumane treatment of pensioners, that was the stock in trade prior to the current dispensation.
The letter stated that PenCom, since 2019, has recorded phenomenal reforms of global reference.
“These include the extraordinary rise of pension assets and Retirement Savings Accounts, enhanced contributory registration system, payment of outstanding pension liabilities, recovery of outstanding pension contributions, increase in Minimum Share Capital for Pension Fund Administrators and effective implementation of the Micro Pension Plan, which coopted the Civil Society into the pension scheme and has greatly enhanced our productivity and well-bring.”
Other top performing MDAs identified alongside PenCom by the CSOs are the Department of State Services (DSS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
PenCom, said the development was a clear attestation to the reformed pension landscape in Nigeria, spearheaded by it.
He said the vote of confidence passed on PenCom by the CSOs would spur the management and staff to double their efforts towards continued effective regulation and supervision of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in Nigeria.
