PenCom rallies NECA to improve CPS compliance

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has called on the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to develop new robust programmes that would improve compliance to the contributing pension scheme (CPS) among its members.

The Commission also attested to the fact that since the inception of the Pension Reforms Act (PRA) 2014, the group has played an active participatory role in the progress recorded so far in Nigeria even though there is room for total improvement.

These were part of the issues raised by the Director-General of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, at the PenCom/NECA interactive session on the CPS with the organised private sector (OPS) in Lagos.

The DG, who was represented by the Commissioner Technical of the Commission, Anyim Nyerere, said: “It is satisfying to note that as a result of the unwavering support of NECA for the CPS, the pension fund assets contributed by OPS in the country under the management of pension fund administrators (PFAs) is encouraging but there is still a need for strict compliance among members.

Nyerere stated that the N17.292 trillion net asset value (NAV) represents a year-on-year growth of 15.34 per cent when compared to the NAV of N14.99 trillion as at December 31, 2022.

He said 66.31 per cent of the pension funds were invested in federal government securities, followed by corporate debt securities, which has taken 10.74 per cent and money market instruments at 7.51 per cent.

He expressed gratitude to the NECA for offering its platform for continuous social dialogue with the members of the OPS on the implementation of the CPS, adding that the social dialogues have generated invaluable impacts in the process.

He maintained the objectives of the interactive session include, but are not limited to, enlightening the OPS on the workings of the CPS, sharing thoughts on emerging developments in the Nigerian pension space and providing an opportunity for pension operators to interact with the members of the OPS.

She stated that the Commission would continue to take steps towards ensuring the smooth implementation of the CPS through the review of existing regulations and guidelines and the development of new ones.