‘Pension scheme records 6.5 million subscribers’

OVER 6.5 million employees in the country have subscribed to the contributory pension scheme through 180,586 employers, the Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Ezra Dikki has revealed.

Besides, Dikki said 20 Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), seven Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs) and four Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) have so far been registered since the scheme began in 2004.

The BPE boss made this disclosure on Tuesday while receiving a delegation led by the Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Nigeria and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Michel Arrion in his office in Abuja.

Dikki further told the delegation that the total funds under the contributory pension scheme is over N4.7 trillion, which he said, have provided stable deposits, enabling banks to lend more long-term facilities.

He said the various reforms carried out by the bureau had impacted positively on the Nigerian economy, explaining that the reforms were scripted to create an enabling environment for private sector investments though institution of sound sector policies; liberalization of the sector by abrogating monopoly laws; and delineation of the roles of policy formulation from regulation and operations.

Other strategies evolved to promote entrepreneurship, according to him him are the establishment of appropriate legal and regulatory framework; setting up of independent regulators; and mitigation of risks to encourage private sector investments.

The DG informed the delegation that to sustain the gains of reforms, the bureau had initiated eight more bills, which were recently transmitted to the National Assembly by the Federal Executive Council for enactment.

Arrion pledged to partner with the BPE in its reform programme.

He said the EU team facilitates regional integration through the promotion of peace that is required for investments to thrive.

The ambassador stated that the union’s major areas of intervention were in power, agriculture/food security and water resources and that the European Investment Bank could assist to finance sector studies.
Arrion assured that the EU investors would be sensitised to know that Nigeria is safe investment destination.