The National Pension Commission on Monday assured civil servants of prompt payment of their pensions once they retire from active service.
The Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, said this at a pre-retirement workshop for Federal Government workers who were due for retirement next year.
She stated that the commission considered contributors who were about to join the Contributory Pension Scheme as very important stakeholders, adding that measures were being put in place to make pension administration transparent and seamless.
As part of the reforms being implemented by PenCom, she said the commission had established uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for all aspects of pension administration, including payment of retirement benefits to retirees.
This, she noted, was achieved through the issuance of regulation on administration of retirement and terminal benefits; regulation on retiree life annuity; and the frameworks on pension enhancement and programmed withdrawals.
Dahir-Umar also said the circular on voluntary contributions was also aimed at repositioning the pension industry for the benefits of retirees.
The acting PenCom DG also said the commission had finalised arrangements to commence the verification of prospective retirees who would be retiring next year from the public service.
Dahir-Umar added, “The verification exercise is scheduled to be undertaken from 25th of June to the 17th of August, 2018 in 15 centres across the country.
“The impending exercise, therefore, necessitated the need to undertake adequate sensitisation and public enlightenment in order to prepare prospective retirees on the steps to take towards a hitch-free retirement life.”
Some of the civil servants, who spoke at the event, called on the commission to ensure that the accrued rights of pensioners were promptly paid by the Federal Government.
For instance, Mr. Idris AbdulRahman, said that while the Pension Reform Act stipulated that a retiree should start withdrawing from his Retirement Savings Account within three months after retirement, it usually takes about a year for erstwhile government employees to enjoy the same benefit.