Yemisi Izuora
Statistics have shown that a total of 42,851 relatives of deceased workers under the Contributory Pension Scheme have been paid pension and insurance benefits from the commencement of the CPS till September 2017.
Figures by the National Pension Commission, PENCOM on approval of death benefits revealed that the deceased workers were from the private, state and federal sectors.
According to the figures, between July and September 2017, the Pension Fund Administrators and life insurance companies paid out N8.2bn benefits.
PenCom stated in the report, “The commission approved the payment of N8.2bn as death benefits to the beneficiaries of the 2,391 deceased employees during the quarter under review.
“This figure moved the cumulative payments to a total of N129.7bn as death benefits (including life insurance) of 42,851 deceased employees from both the private and public sector (FGN and states) of the economy at the end of the third quarter, 2017.”
Lagos State, which has the highest complaints in the implementation of the CPS, also said it recently paid claims to relatives of 32 deceased workers under the Group Life Assurance Policy of Lagos State through LASACO Assurance Plc.
The Lagos State Head of Service, Mrs. Folashade Adesoye, during the presentation of the cheques to the beneficiaries of the deceased workers in Lagos, said the insurance welfare package was part of the staff welfare programme provided by the state government for Lagos State public service workers.