Pension Recoveries From Defaulting Employers Hit N16.9bn In 7 Years
Pension recoveries from defaulting employers by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) from 2014 when the initiative was introduced to date have risen to about N16.9 billion, an investigation by The Revealer has revealed.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said in her latest report posted on her official website that it recovered a total sum of N608,554,747.59 representing the principal contribution of N162,385,260.05 and the penalty of N446,169,487.54 from 25 defaulting employers in the first quarter of 2021.
The Commission had in August 2020 announced that it recovered a total sum of N16.37 billion comprising principal contributions of N8.37 billion and penalty of N8.00 billion of outstanding pension contributions and the penalty from defaulting employers from the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to September 2019.
According to the Commission, the recovery was made following the issuance of demand notices to defaulting employers whose pension liabilities had been established by the Recovery Agents (RAs).
The pension industry regulator noted that within the period, it also received a total of 14,741 applications from private sector organisations for the issuance of Pension Clearance Certificates (PCCs).
Out of this number, it said PCCs were issued to 9,299 organisations while 5,442 applications were being processed. The records show that a total sum of N41,971,011,350.51 was remitted into the Retirement Savings Accounts of 163,286 employees of the 9,299 organisations.
It could be recalled that the Commission in August 2020 announced that it recovered a total sum of N16.37 billion comprising principal contributions of N8.37 billion and penalty of N8.00 billion of outstanding pension contributions and a penalty from defaulting employers from the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to September 2019.
PenCom stated this in its third-quarter 2019 report, adding that these amounts have since been credited to the respective Retirement Saving Accounts (RSAs) of the employees.
“The Commission maintained the services of Recovery Agents (RAs) for the recovery of outstanding pension contributions and the penalty from defaulting employers. The RAs were mandated to review the pension records of the employers assigned by the Commission and recover outstanding pension contributions with the penalty.
“During the quarter, demand notices were issued to 18 defaulting employers whose pension liabilities had been established by the RAs. This resulted in the remittance of outstanding pension contributions of N364.68 million, representing principal contributions of N146.95 million and penalty of N217.73 million,” it said.
The Commission said it had sustained effort at collaborating with social partners to drive compliance with the provisions of the PRA 2014 by the Organized Private Sector (OPS).
“The Commission in collaboration with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), organised interactive sessions with the OPS on the “Current Developments and Challenges” in the implementation of the CPS. The interactive sessions were held in September 2019 at Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano,” it said.
The pension regulator posited that the interactive sessions, provided a platform for the Commission to interact with the OPS on the implementation of the CPS, stressing that the sessions also provided an opportunity to update stakeholders on recent developments, address concerns, clarify issues and discuss the expectations of the contributors, with a view to improving compliance with the provisions of the PRA 2014.
