Pension assets rise to N5.9tn
Nike Popoola and Ifeanyi Onuba
The total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to N5.9tn as of the end of September.
The Director-General, National Pension
Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, disclosed this during a seminar in
Abuja on Wednesday.
“Some of the major success indicators
include the consistent growth in a large pool of pension assets of over
N5.9tn, which are invested in structured and safe financial instruments;
and registration of 7.2 million pension contributors and 170,000
retirees under the CPS, among others,” she said.
The director-general, who was
represented by the Commissioner in-charge of Inspectorate, PenCom, Prof.
Mohammed Abubakar, said the relative success of the implementation of
the Pension Reform Act could largely be attributed to the fundamental
structures upon which the CPS was built.
She noted that the cardinal principle of
separation of custody from management and supervision of pension funds
had resulted in a pension scheme with sound internal mechanism for
transparency and accountability.
The PenCom boss said the re-enactment of
the PRA in July 2014 provided a sound basis to guide the second decade
of the pension reform, adding that the Act sought to ensure that more
tangible benefits accrued to retirees towards a more blissful
retirement.
The enactment of the PRA 2014,
Anohu-Amazu added, served as the basis for the implementation of the
commission’s new corporate strategy plan.
“Expanding the coverage of the CPS to
the underserved economic sectors through our micro pension initiative is
a key priority of our strategic vision. As we seek to increase
registered pension contributors to at least 20 million by the year 2019,
informal sector participation through the micro pension plan is
expected to provide the impetus,” he said.
The Head, Investment Supervision,
PenCom, Mr. Ehimeme Ohioma, said about 55 per cent of contributors under
the CPS were less than 40 years old, which meant that the funds were
available for long-term investment as those contributing would not be
retiring very soon.
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