‘Why pension fund increased by N470 billion in seven months’

No fewer than 19,000 workers from the public and private sectors have joined the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the past seven years, boosting the asset by N470 billion in the period, data obtained from the National Pension Commission (PenCom) have shown.

The pension asset stood at N12.31 trillion as of December 31, 2020 but soared to N12.78 trillion by July 31, 2021, increasing by N47 billion.

On the investment side, N8.13 trillion was invested in federal government securities as of December 2020. This increased slightly to N8.2 trillion by July 2021.

PenCom also noted that as of December 2020, N136.59 billion was invested in state government securities, N1.69 trillion in the local money market while N89.68 billion was invested in state government securities in July 2021 and N2.11 trillion in the local money market.

On the progress made so far, Director-General (DG), PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, noted that it was pertinent to reassure stakeholders that the implementation of the CPS remained on course.

She submitted that the maintenance of consistent growth continues to justify the Commission’s overriding philosophy of ensuring the safety of pension fund assets.