Lagos govt reiterates commitment to timely payment of pensions to retirees

Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to prompt payment of pension to retirees through various Pension Fund Administrators.
The state’s Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, who gave the hint at a media briefing on a recent publication that the Lagos State government failed to make payments in October, November, and December 2022, described the news as unfounded and misleading.

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

“In 2022, the government, through 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 N48.3 billion to 13,142 retirees since the inception of the administration,” she said.

Ponnle, who said the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration had never reneged on its responsibilities to its retirees, added: “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 Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state government increased the employers’ portion of 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent monthly. From January 2022 to date, the state has remitted N13.7 billion for the employees, N3.18 billion in councils and N13.319 billion for the State Universal Basic Education Board workers.

“In addition, the state government maintains life assurance policy coverage of 300 per cent of yearly emolument in favour of all the employees. In line with the ideals of the contributory pension scheme, the state government has worked assiduously to ensure consistent payment of pension liabilities.

“We have 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, the outstanding N9 billion backlog of pensions will be fully cleared.”