The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) have announced plans to enhance pension management and facilitate a smoother transition for retiring public servants in Nigeria.
This was revealed in a statement by the Head of Strategic Communication at BPSR, Aliyu Umar, on Thursday.
The development was discussed during a courtesy visit by BPSR to PenCom in Abuja on Wednesday, where both agencies deliberated on addressing gaps in the pension system.
The Director-General of BPSR, Dasuki Arabi, stressed the importance of ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s pension system.
The management of pensions for retirees under the purview of the National Pension Commission is highly sensitive and challenging”, Arabi said.
He noted that prior to the establishment of PenCom in 2004, the pension system faced significant issues, such as an unsustainable defined benefits scheme that resulted in delays and the accumulation of pension arrears.
Arabi emphasised BPSR’s role in advocating for the adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme as a sustainable alternative, ensuring contributions from both employees and employers.
The Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, highlighted the need for continuous reforms to address evolving challenges in pension management.
“We are now encountering new issues in pension administration and management, particularly in disbursements and the integration of technology”, she stated.
One of the primary focuses of the discussions was the proposed integration of PenCom’s pension system with the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) a government initiative aimed at streamlining payroll and personnel data management.
Oloworaran said, “How do we deepen the integration of this scheme with IPPIS? When IPPIS was developed, the goal was that as soon as a public servant retires, they would seamlessly transition from salary payments to pension payments through an automated, electronic process without the use of manual documentation”.
She also emphasised the need for a more robust approach to pre-retirement training for civil servants, citing alarming statistics that over 40% of public workers die shortly after leaving service.
“We need to prepare workers years before retirement. Four years prior, they should begin exploring fields they want to enter after retirement. By the time they exit, they’ll have a plan in place”, she explained.
Oloworaran advocated for integrating processes and fostering collaboration between BPSR and PenCom to strengthen pre-retirement training and improve pension management.
