Retirees say contributory pension scheme is a fraud

Retirees under the contributory pension scheme are in agony as they have raised their voices to decry the late disbursement of the initial 25 per cent of the accrued benefit and the meagre amounts subsequently paid monthly as pension by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).

The retirees said that the contributory pension scheme is a fraud, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth and a vision of a grim future characterised by indebtedness, distress, poor health, and poverty.

Some of the retirees in Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that after 35 years of meritorious service, they deserve better treatment after retirement than what they were experiencing under the scheme.

The respondents appealed to the National Assembly to make amendments to the Pension Act to enable retirees enjoy their lives after retirement.

A retiree, Mr Joel Ige, said that the current contributory pension scheme was capable of affecting dedication as well as productivity in public offices, and could also create in workers fear and a sense of uncertainty after service.

Another retiree, Mrs Margret Agunloye, said it was absurd for PFAs to have the notion that after 35 years of service or attaining the age of 60 years, retirees would not have capacity to manage their retirement savings on their own.

Agunloye, who retired as a level 14 officer in a federal ministry, said that the 25 per cent lump sum paid to her after retirement was nothing to write home about.

”Contributory pension is a scam and I want to encourage those who are still in service to fight for their right now.

”As a retiree, you can’t survive with what you will be paid on a monthly basis, except with the grace of God,” she said.

Another respondent, Mrs Beatrice Adio, said that the situation on the ground does not portray both the pension administrators and government as having the interest of civil servants at heart.

” It is unfortunate that very many àffected retirees have to depend on family and friends for feeding, education of their children, and other immediate needs, while some unlucky ones have died,” she said.

A legal practitioner, Akin Ayeni, said it was criminal and contemptuous of the Pension Act of 2024, if accrued rights, referred to as the pension benefits, that employees of the federal government’s treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are entitled to, are not paid to them, as and when due.

He called for the discharging of any Pension Fund Administrator found to be acting contrary to the provisions of the law.

“ In my thinking, it is one of the purposes of the contributory pension scheme to ensure that retirees are paid as at when due

” However, if retirees have to wait for an average of one or two years to be paid, then, it means such a good purpose has been defeated then, and no longer of effect,”, he said.

A civil servant, Mr Jimoh Bankole, advised that the government should establish a dedicated pension reserve fund, specifically for accrued rights payments, and such fund should be isolated from other government budgetary considerations.

Also, a public affairs analysts, Mr Sunday Owoeye, described the development as unfortunate, saying failure by anyone to make the necessary payment of accrued rights of retired workers was not doing the country any good because it would further heighten wave of corruption and indolence in the public service.

Another respondent, Mr Lanre Lasisi, a civil servant, urged the Federal Government to return to the old pension scheme in order to alleviate the sufferings of retirees.

Lasisi said the old scheme provided the last basic salary until the death of the retiree, whereas, under the 2004 contributory pension scheme, the retiree gets a certain percentage after retirement.

“Most civil servants feel that the federal government should return the pension scheme to the old programme where the pensioner gets his last basic salary for life.

“If we say we should continue this one, when the person retires, the pension is not released as at when due.

“Then the retiree gets fed up, falls sick or even dies while waiting for the pension fund managers to release the first percentage of his pension which takes years or months if the retiree is lucky.

“If we go back to the old way, the retiree gets his basic almost immediately.

“Even if it is this new contributory pension scheme, they can speed up the payment to the retirees, maybe give the first percentage to the retiree within the first two months,” he said.

Also, Mr Martins Alo, Executive Director of Upline Centre for Development, said that the time has come for Nigerians to rise up and support pensioners to in order to mitigate the challenges faced by retirees and prospective retirees.

According to Alo, the treatment of retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) will likely continue unless drastic measures is taken on it.

” So, we need to work together to amplify the voices of retirees and create a better future for  ourselves,” he said.

However, Mrs Kate Popoola, a former Director of Marketing, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that though she collected the first percentage of her contributory pension after 18 months, the fault was not that of the pension fund administrator, but National Pension Commission (Pencom).

“My pension administrator pays on the 20th of the month and it is regular. Sometimes it comes on the 18th or 19th of the month. Sometimes if the 20th is on a weekend, it comes in earlier or the following Monday.

“I also get my quarterly statement of account on the programmed withdrawal. It took about 18 months before I started receiving my pension, but it is not the pension administrators fault.

“It is until pencom calculates your benefit and remits to them before you can get your monthly pension.

“Pension administrators cannot pay you until they receive from pencom the remittal they will pay you from.

“The table of contents from the pension is shown to the retiree, you are given a percentage upfront, then the remaining is put into your account at the pension administrator before you start getting your monthly payments,” she said.