Retirement and the fear of solitary and almost beggarly life which used to be the fate of most public and civil servants as a result of difficulty in accessing pensions made the public service not a favorite choice among young job seekers.
Over the years, there have been woeful tales of pensioners who go through heart-rending difficulties trying to access the benefits and entitlements they had labored for in their youthful age; some even dying in the process!
Today the tide has changed tremendously for the better with the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) which ensures that a retired public servant starts getting his pension immediately upon retirement.
With Edo State Government keying into the CPS thirteen years after the law was passed in 2004, Governor Godwin Obaseki has worked tirelessly to ensure the scheme becomes successful, with Edo State Government making a matching contribution of 10 percent monthly for every 8 percent deducted from salaries of public and civil servants as pension contribution.
The 2021 fourth (4th) quarter report recently released by PenCom shows that 25 States in Nigeria have enacted pension laws on the CPS, while seven States are at the bill processing stage, placing Edo far ahead of other States.
The report which listed Edo State as one of the four States in the Federation with a full and up-to-date remittance of workers’ pension contributions, has earned the State Government commendations. This, coupled with the prompt payment of workers’ salaries, has further strengthened the trust and faith the people have in the Obaseki-led Government.
The Contributory Pension Scheme has effectively displaced the old pension system (Defined Benefit Scheme) as a result of its practicality and effectiveness in meeting the pension challenges of public servants. Effective from December 2021, there are no more retirees from the old pension scheme.
The Obaseki administration inherited lots of pension backlogs from the old pension scheme. So far, the Edo State Government has been able to clear all inherited pension arrears and backlogs, from batches 37 to 65, up to the tune of 4.3 billion Naira. Pensioners in the State now receive their pension entitlements on a monthly basis and promptly too.
Since January 2022, the Contributory Pension Scheme has begun to witness retirees and the Governor has given approval to commence payment for those who retired in the months of January, February and March 2022.
In the event of death of any public servant enrolled in the CPS, their family members or next of kin get three times their gross annual salaries which have been provided for by an insurance policy.
Section 11 (1) of the Pension Reform Act makes insurance mandatory for all public servants which should be provided for by the employer, in this case, the State Government. It is a life assurance policy. The Edo State Government pays a yearly premium for all State’s employees in the CPS; this the State Government has been paying since 2017.
When the State keyed into the Contributory Pension Scheme, nine thousand, eight hundred and three (9803) staff members were enrolled in the scheme. The Edo State Government paid the sum of 80.7 million Naira premium.
In 2018, the staff strength increased to ten thousand, eight hundred and fourteen (10,814), and the State Government paid 215 million Naira as premium. This payment has continued on a yearly basis. The more the staff strength and the higher the salaries, the higher the premium.
Within a short period of the eventual death of any public servant in the State, their death certificate is sent to the insurance company, who processes their cheques, which is then paid to the family of the deceased by the State Government.
Just recently, precisely on Friday, 22nd April, cheques amounting to seventeen million, five hundred and eighty-three thousand, six hundred and thirty-nine Naira, and twelve kobo (N17,583,639.12) were presented to 5 families of public servants in the State who passed on.
This is after over N500 million have been presented to more than 175 families since the inception of the scheme.
The compliance of the Edo State Government to the Contributory Pension Scheme means that the CPS has been deeply entrenched into the civil and public service. This stems from Governor Obaseki’s commitment to workers’ welfare, and most importantly, to ensuring that those who have dedicated their lives to the service of the State reap the fruits of their labour without undue stress or tears.
The Governor’s commitment to workers and pensioners’ welfare has continued to endear him to public servants in Edo State.
By John Ewah
