- Lagos Pays N80bn Into Workers’ Retirement Savings Accounts
The Lagos State Government has announced the payment of N80bn into the Retirement Savings Accounts of its workers since it adopted the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Oke, disclosed this on Wednesday during the 13th retirement benefit documentation seminar for core civil servants, Universal Basic Education Board, parastatals and local government employees due to retire during the second quarter of the 2018 financial period.
“I am pleased to inform you at this juncture that as of September 2017, the government had paid more than N80bn into the RSAs of the active workforce since the commencement of the CPS dispensation in 2007. This excludes remittances from parastatals,” he said.
In spite of the onerous funding obligations under the CPS, Oke said that Lagos had been dogged and meticulous in meeting its funding obligations.
The Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission, Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, stated that to enable retires under the CPS to live a life of comfort, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had mandated LASPEC to proffer solutions on how the backlog of accrued pension rights, running into billions of naira, could be resolved.
She said the state government had been clearing pension liabilities that it met on ground with funds released, and that it was ensuring that retirees were able to get their pensions between two and three months after retirement.
To enjoy financial independence and peace in old age, she urged the intending retirees to ensure that the documents required in ensuring processing of their terminal entitlements were received early at LASPEC.
“At this stage in your lives, you should be thinking of what you can do to keep yourself busy in retirement, how to manage your health, and of course, gain understanding of eventualities of old age, and what to do to ensure that you put your house in order so that as you age, you will enjoy peace of mind,” Onanuga stated.
