The National Pension Commission said it is strategizing to provide incentives to contributors under the micro pension plan to encourage more enrolments.
Director-General of the Commission, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at a workshop for journalists which had the theme “Increasing Informal Sector Participation in Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS): The Case for Micro Pension Plan”.
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“Strategic efforts to drive the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) remain one of the important areas of focus of the Commission. The MPP was conceptualised to expand pension coverage to the informal sector, including small-scale businesses, entertainers, professionals, petty traders, artisans, and entrepreneurs.
“The MPP was implemented to curb old-age poverty by assisting the workers, as mentioned above, to contribute while working and build long-term savings to fall back on when they become old. To boost confidence in the participation of the MPP, the Commission is strategizing to provide incentives such as health insurance,” she said.
Mrs. Dahir-Umar further stated that the Revised Regulation on the Administration of Retirement and Terminal Benefits, which the Commission recently issued to Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) for immediate implementation will further guide the process of accessing retirement and terminal benefits by pension contributors and retirees under the CPS.
“The key highlights of the Revised Regulation include clarifications and simplification of documentation processes, RSA consolidation before payments of retirement benefits, accrued pension benefits for private sector contributors, and additional lump sum payments,” she noted.
The DG added that the revised regulation also introduced administrative sanctions on PFAs who disregard the provisions of the regulation, a measure to ensure that PFAs promptly process the payment of retirement benefits to retirees.
