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Lagos committed to timely payment of pension to retirees, says Ponnle

By Samuel Ifetoye
17 March 2023   |   7:46 am
The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, has reiterated the commitment of the state government to provide prompt payment of pension to its retirees through the various Pension Fund Administrators.

Commissioner for Establishments, Training, and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle

The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, has reiterated the commitment of the state government to provide prompt payment of pension to its retirees through the various Pension Fund Administrators.

Ponnle, while addressing the media yesterday, on a recent publication, not The Guardian, where it was reported that the Lagos State government failed to make payments in October, November, and December 2022, described the news as unfounded and misleading, stating that Lagos remained the most compliant among the states of the federation according to the National Pension Commission submission.

“Contrary to this report, the LASPEC on October 14, 2022 paid the accrued rights of the sum of N1.062 billion to 288 retirees, and the sum N2.54 billion to 754 retirees in December 2022.

“In 2022, the government, through the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), the agency responsible for the coordination and administration of all pension matters in the state paid accrued rights of N11.4 billion to 3,480 retirees, and a total sum of N48.3 billion to 13,142 retirees since the inception of this administration,” she said.

Mrs. Ponnle, who stated that administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has never reneged in its responsibilities to its retirees, whom it took very seriously, said that it has always acted in accordance with its contractual obligations.

“The status of implementation of the contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in states, a quarterly assessment report produced by the National Pension Commission certified the state as the most compliant on the scheme.

“Under the administration of Mr. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State government increased the employers’ portion of 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent monthly pension contributions to employees’ retirement savings account. From January 2022 to date, the state government has remitted the sum of N13.7 billion for the mainstream employees, N3.18 billion in the local council, N13.319 billion for the state universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) employees.

“In addition, the state government maintains life assurance policy coverage of 300 per cent of yearly emolument in favour of all our employees. In line with the ideals of the Contributory Pension Scheme, the government of Lagos State has worked assiduously to ensure that consistent payment of pension liabilities.

“We’ve had some states even coming to us to learn how we manage our pension. We are at the cutting edge of best practice in pension administration as far as public service is concerned. So, if we are paying at the rate of between N1 billion and N1.5 billion per month, in less than a year the outstanding of N9 billion backlogs of pension will be fully cleared,” she stated.

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