El-Rufai, who spoke at a stakeholders’ sensitization conference for the North-West zone on Pension Reform Act 2014, organized by the National Pension Commission, PENCOM, said he had since confirmed 2,484 ghost pensioners and deleted their names from the pension payroll in his state.

El-Rufai, who was director- general, Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, said ghost pensioners were impossible under a fully contributory pension scheme.

He explained that Kaduna State approved a new pension bill based on the contributory model, adding that when passed by the House of Assembly, it would ensure that future retirees from the public service never suffered the pains of unpaid pensions.

On her part, Director- General, National Pension Commission, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said the commission was working to provide incentives with requisite flexibility in terms of access to encourage the informal sector to embrace micro pensions for future economic security.

She noted that effective and sustainable pension system remains a challenge in the country as well as in most African countries.

Credit: NationalMirror