The expectation of every worker contributing for pensions is to have access to his money upon retirement without having to go through any difficulties.
If this is your expectation, go immediately for data recapturing with your Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) to update your records through biometric recapturing.
This is an ongoing process now and the essence is to ensure that people are uniquely identified so that they can be paid at retirement. So, it’s an ongoing data clean up that will eliminate all forms of multiple registration that characterised the process during the early part of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria(PenOp) during an interactive session with journalist in Lagos, implored pension contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to embrace the ongoing data recapturing exercise across the country to enable them fully maximize the benefits of the system.
According to operators, the aim of the exercise is to update the existing data of contributors, while also addressing a situation whereby a pension contributor has multiple Personal Identification Numbers (PINs).
Aderonke Adedeji, president of PenOp leading other exco management of the association said the ongoing exercise will allow PFAs reconcile the new information collected with the previous ones to enhance the credibility of the pension scheme.
She added that the exercise will also protect pension clients against cybercrime as well as other fraudulent intents and activities.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) she had stated are upbeat about data recapturing of pension contributors and streamlining of registration of prospective contributors in a move to have accurate database of contributors.
Disclosing that the ongoing data recapturing exercise is compulsory for all Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders, she urged contributors not to wait for their PFAs to notify them, but rather, willingly approach their PFAs for the recapturing exercise.
“People should go and update their data and should not wait for PFAs to come to them before they subject themselves to this exercise. The process has started, PFAs have invested so much into the project and operators are progressively approaching their customers to recapture their data,” she said.
Adedeji stated that, for now, there is no deadline, since the exercise is just starting but that, in future, there could be a deadline, depending on the response of Pension contributors toward this exercise.
“What we have in our hand is a big job, but it entails reconciling data acquired in the last twelve years of commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), so it’s not something you can do in a hurry and we are committed to it, the association said.
The Exco also observed that the verification exercise is aimed at ensuring quality data of contributors, stating that this is in tandem with modern ICT trends used to synchronise data base for national groups.
The exercise, she said, requires RSA holders to provide their respective NIM numbers to their PFAs and answer some questions that were not provided earlier, by the account holders.
According the PenOp exco, the experience acquired from the formal sector pensions will enable have smoother registration of participants in the informal sector micro pension scheme.
They however noted that the pace of registration of participants in the micro pension scheme is still very low compared to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), adding that, the nature of micro pension scheme and its voluntary nature mean the pace of growth would be slower than the CPS that was made compulsory by law.
She said, though, operators envisaged this but pointed out that as time progresses and more people become aware of its immense benefits through increased awareness, the number of contributors will grow.
Pension operators, she pointed out, had already invested heavily in micro pension scheme, by getting the needed information technology infrastructure, as well as manpower to mobilise new pension contributors through the grassroots, noting that, the approach of marketing and persuading Nigerians to join the scheme differs from other schemes.
According to her,” We, as operators, knew from the onset that the approach of using agents to market micro pension plan will not work because of its nature. So, don’t expect to see our agents in market places marketing micro pensions. But people are willingly coming to our offices to make enquiry and register even though, the pace is slower and it’s understandable since it’s a new scheme.”
