Yemisi Izuora
The National Pension Commission, PenCom, as part of measures to enhance participation of the informal sector in the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, has made a good appearance at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair.
Speaking during a special day for PenCom at the fair, Mr Babatunde Alayande, Head, PENCOM, South-West Office, said President Muhammadu Buhari had on March 28, 2019 signed the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) to expand contributory pension scheme to the informal sector.
Alayande, said , “This platform avails workers such as artisans and self-employed persons the opportunity to easily register and contribute in a flexible manner, and in a safe and secure environment for their pension at retirement.
“The MPP would ensure that there is a pension coverage for all eligible Nigerians and provide access to other incentives for them,”
On her part, President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mrs Toki Mabogunje, charged the PenCom, to ensure the safety and profitability of Nigeria’s N12.8 trillion pension assets.
Mabogunje, spoke on the theme, “Connecting Businesses, Creating Value” where she noted that Nigeria’s pension assets have reached N12.8 trillion as of September 2021 and still growing.
“While this is an impressive wealth accumulation, we urge PENCOM to exercise the strictest form of supervision and monitoring to ensure the safety and profitability of these assets.
“The regulatory framework for the sector should be based on international best practice.” she said.
She commended the leadership of PENCOM for their innovative strategies aimed at increasing coverage, transparency and profitable management of pension assets.
“We, however, urge the management of PENCOM to leverage more on technology and effective sensitisation to achieve wider coverage, acceptance, and compliance among formal and informal sectors.
“With 9.44 million registrants on the contributory pension scheme as of September 2021, there is still so much room to achieve more coverage of workers in the scheme,” Mabogunje said.
She added that the trade fair was a very good platform for PENCOM to interface with hundreds of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises that were yet to be captured in the nation’s pension scheme.