The National Pension Commission (PenCom) on Wednesday said that 36 states remitted  N236.7 billion pension contribution to the Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) from January 2020 to the second quarter of 2024.

Ms Omolola Oloworaran, Acting Director-General of PenCom, disclosed this at the Third Quarter 2024 Consultative Forum For States And the FCT organised by the Commission in Lagos.

BRANDPOWER reports that the forum gathered heads of Pension Bureaux, Boards and Commissions steering the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

Also at the forum were heads of service and senior government officials of some states that had commenced implementation of the scheme.

Oloworaran said that, based on its records, 25 states including the FCT had  enacted pension laws on the CPS, while six are preparing to pass the law.

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She explained that six states had already adopted the Contributory Defined Benefits Scheme (CDBS).

According to her, only eight of the 25  states are fully implementing the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and enacted laws.

The acting director-general said further that the pension fund assets under the scheme had risen, with total Assets under Management soaring to N20.79 trillion as at July 2024.

“It will interest state governments to note that one of the significant benefits of adopting the CPS is access to accumulated pension funds for infrastructural development through issuance of state bonds.

“Indeed, five states, including Lagos, Niger, Osun, Ekiti and Delta, have successfully issued state bonds that were subscribed by pension funds, example Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge in Lagos,’’ she said.

She said the commission was committed to ensuring that all retirees from public and private sectors received their retirement benefits without delay.

Oloworaran, however, said the Commission would engage the states in a sustained manner and work towards expanding the coverage of the CPS at the subnational level.

“We will also intensify efforts with relevant state government agencies to resolve the backlog in accrued rights payments to CPS retirees.

“In addition, we will ensure that pensioners under the CPS and other pension arrangements benefit from pension increments as provided for in the Nigeria constitution,” she said.

The PenCom boss added that as from Dec. 2025, the commission would introduce a Recognition and Award System to encourage and reward pension reforms by states.

She urged the participants to make constructive contributions to the deliberations at the forum that would assist state governments’ roles in pension reform and implementation process.