Ekiti plans migration of civil servants to pension scheme

The Ekiti State Government has sent a bill seeking to migrate its workforce to the contributory pension scheme from the current defined benefit scheme which it said constitutes a burden on the government.

The bill tagged: Pension Reform Law (First Amendment) BILL, 2024 was approved during the State Executive Council meeting held yesterday at the government house and sent to the State House of Assembly for legislative processing and subsequent passage into law.

Briefing newsmen after the exco meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Value Orientation, Mr Taiwo Olatunbosun, said that the approval is to amend the State Pension Reform Law, 2022 to expand the scope of the Contributory Pension Scheme in the State.

According to Olatunbosun, “the focus of the bill when passed into law is to migrate employees with over five years of service, currently under the Defined Benefit Scheme to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to gradually reduce and eventually eradicate the gratuity liability and burden on the State Government;

“It is to give power to a Pension Fund Administrator under the Law to apply a percentage of the Pension Assets in the Retirement Savings Account towards payment of Equity contribution for payment of Residential Mortgage in favour of any willing or interested employee.

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“It is to empower the Ekiti State Pension Commission to retrieve and refund wrongful retirement savings and accrued interest made in favour of any employee in active service who is exempted from the Contributory Pension Scheme, back to the coffers of the State Government.

He said that those who have less than five years in the service won’t be migrated because they have limited time to spend in the service, saying that they will remain on the current Defined Benefit Scheme.

The Commissioner explained further that the Contributory Pension Scheme would not only solve the issue of delayed payment of gratuity, but it would also help the affected workers to choose their pension administrators who will manage the funds for them.