Matthew Otoijagha
The acting Director General of the National Pension Commission, Mrs. Aisha Dahiru-Umar, says its appointed recovery agent has recovered N14.76 billion outstanding pension contributions and penalties.
Dahiru-Umar disclosed this at a one-day interactive session with the organised private sector on “Challenges and Future Outlook of the Pension Reform Act (PRA 2014)” in Lagos.
Dahiru-Umar, represented by the Head, Compliance, PenCom, Mr. Aliu Bwala, said the figure comprised N7.53 billion principal contributions and N7.23 billion as penalties respectively. The acting DG also said the entire amounts were credited into the workers’ Retirement Savings Accounts.
According to her, the penalty is meant to compensate the workers for the income that would have been earned, if the principal contributions were remitted as and when due. “The recovery exercise which has been largely successful has boosted the confidence of contributors and encouraged employers to embrace the CPS. We would like to again thank NECA and its members for their cooperation in the course of the recovery exercise.
The director general said the pension industry had transited from a deficit of over N2 trillion in 2004 to accumulated pension fund asset worth over N8.23 trillion, with registered membership of 8.14 million as of July 2018.