Matthew Otoijagha
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has heeded to demands of most employees who desire to make voluntary pension contributions, but are constrained by the policy which requires that such contributions be made through employers.
Finding revealed that most employees whose employers are not contributing/remitting their pension contributions desire to secure their future by making voluntary contributions, but their desires are stemmed as the Pension Reform Act 2014, permits that contributions should be made through employers.
Speaking on the move taken by PenCom to address the challenge, Head, Corporate Communications PenCom, Peter Aghahowa, said the commission is working on a guideline that would enable employees make contributions with ease.
He noted that the commission is concerned about the state of employees whose employers are not contributing/remitting their contributions, stressing that PenCom will continue to engage defaulting employers through the recovery agents it engaged to recover outstanding pension contributions from employers.
A measure of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 provides that any eligible employee may, in addition to statutory contributions, make voluntary contributions to a retirement savings account, a provision which allows for the tax-deductibility of such pension contributions.