Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday cautioned on the management of the N6.2 trillion accrued from contributory pension fund.
Dogara stated this during the public hearing on the bill which seeks to establish the Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners of Nigeria and the bill which seeks to Nigerian Intelligence Agency Pensions Board respectively.
According to him, “the bills seek to confer on the Institute, the responsibility for determining the standards of knowledge, qualifications and skills to be attained by such persons seeking to become Chartered Pension Practitioners and to review those standards from time to time as circumstances may require.
The Pension industry in Nigeria today is worth over 6.2 trillion naira (Nov. 2016). It comprises funds belonging to workers, employers of labour and investors. It is too important a subject, and the size of funds involved, too big not to have some form of regulation by its practitioners. There is therefore an urgent need for a regulatory framework to guide practitioners in the industry.”
The Speaker who reiterated the resolve of the Legislative arm of government towards protecting the commonwealth of Nigerian citizens, described the pension industry as a major contributor to the economic and social well-being of Nigerians.
“The well-being of those who gave their best to the nation at the prime of their lives must be taken care of at the twilight of their lives.
“A well planned retirement with well managed pension scheme should guarantee the good life for our senior citizens. A well trained and professional pension practitioners have a huge role to play in achieving the above goals.
While speaking on the bill seeks to establish the Nigerian Intelligence Agency Pensions Board, he explained that the agency when set up will be responsible for payment of pensions and gratuities to all NIA personnel.
“The Nigerian Intelligence Agency (N.I.A.) is a highly respected security and diplomatic agency that caters for aspects of Nigeria’s security needs especially foreign intelligence. We invite stakeholders to assist the National Assembly to determine the appropriate method of guaranteeing the pensions of those who have served our country meritoriously in the past especially before coming into force of the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
“This is the usual purpose of a Public Hearing as key actors in the sectors are expected to advocate their views strongly to guide legislation in this area,” Dogara said.
On his part, Hassan Shekarau, chairman, House Committee on Pensions, noted that the NIA pension bill seeks to “streamline the agency along with the Military Pension Board and the Department of State Security Pension Board for better, prompt performance and adequatemajor service delivery to its peculiar personnel since its exemption along with other bodies.
“The second bill for an Act to establish the chattered institute of pension practitioners of Nigeria is to bring to bear what obtains in other finance related sectors as well as what obtains as international best practices.
“It is expected that the chattered institute of pension practitioners of Nigeria will play a role that the chattered institute of bankers play in the banking sector as well as the role the chattered institute of brokers play in the capital market sector, hence the chattered institute of pension practitioners of Nigeria bill when passed into law and established will bring about good governance and professional ethics into the practice of pension administration in Nigeria as obtains globally,” Shekarau said.
