Lagos Funds Pension Scheme With N125.94bn

• Lagos Funds Pension Scheme With N125.94bn

Lagos State Government has so far spent N125.94bn on the Contributory Pension Scheme since its inception nine years ago.

The Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Oke, said this in Lagos during the state’s 11th retirement benefit documentation seminar.

The seminar was organised for core civil servants and employees of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education, Teachers’ Establishment & Pension Office as well as local governments due to retire between January and June 2017.

“In essence, the Lagos State Government’s funding of employees’ pension rights under the CPS in a period of nine years is approximately N125.94bn,” he said.

The commissioner said that the state was committed to the regular contribution of the monthly deduction of 7.5 per cent from the salary of every employee and the employer’s 7.5 per cent.

“We are aware of the inadequacy of the funding rate recommended in the Pension Reform Law and for the year 2016, this administration, in order to bridge the gap has approved a pension bailout fund of N6.5bn,” he said.

Oke said he expected the seminar to open the eyes of the participants to the challenges faced by retirees and how they could tackle them as they would be transiting to another phase of their life.

The Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission, Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, said that in the last 16 months of the current administration, N21.9bn had been spent as accrued pension rights on 50,027 retirees.

According to her, the main essence of the seminar is to educate the participants on steps they need to take to facilitate the quick processing of their terminal entitlements.

Onanuga said the seminar would help them to come to terms with life out of office and the need for adequate preparation for their comfort in retirement.

According to the LASPEC boss, the government has not reneged on the funding of the Retirement Benefit Redemption Fund and the Pension Sinking Fund accounts.

“We are committed to your welfare, and will continue in our quest to make the Lagos State Pension Scheme the best in Nigeria,” she said.