Director-General (DG), National Pension Commission (PenCom), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, on Wednesday said Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Fund (CPF) had risen to about N5.9 trillion as at October 31st 2016.

Ms. Anohu-Amazu disclosed this at the two day journalist conference, held at the Transcorp Hotel in Calabar, Cross Rivers State.

She disclosed that this is being invested in structured and safe financial instruments, adding that it has in its record, registration of 7.2 million pension contributors; 170,000 retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS); amongst others.

She said these modest milestones notwithstanding, the implementation of the Pension Reform Act 2004 (PRA) was not bereft of challenges.

Her words: “We cannot overemphasize that the relative success of the implementation of the PRA 2004 could largely be attributed to the fundamental structures upon which the CPS was built.

Indeed, the cardinal principle of separation of custody from management and supervision of pension funds has resulted in a pension scheme with sound internal mechanism for transparency and accountability. Whereas the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) manage the pension funds, they do not have access to same, since custody is vested in the Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), while the Commission ensures both parties adhere strictly to regulations governing the pension funds.

“Indeed, some issues were noted in the course of implementation since the PRA 2004 and this underscored the imperative for a comprehensive review of the PRA in order to consolidate on the Pension Reform”.

She said the re-enactment of the PRA in July 2014 provided a sound basis to guide the second decade of the Nigerian Pension Reform. The PRA 2014 sought to ensure that more tangible benefits accrue to retirees towards a more blissful retirement.

“As we seek to increase registered pension contributors to at least 20 million by the year 2019, informal sector participation through the Micro Pension Plan is expected to provide impetus. The Commission has also enhanced its support to the States in facilitating their adoption and implementation of the CPS by providing a bespoke technical assistance, through our State Operations Department and Zonal Offices in each of the 6 geo-political Zones,” she said.

The Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, on Tuesday hinted that the total pension assets had hit N5.8 trillion, adding that the commission was targeting to invest 40 per cent of the funds in infrastructure and housing by 2019.

She was, however, quick to add that the safety of such investments would not be compromised, as they would require guarantees from government and stakeholders.

She said currently, 15 per cent of the assets are invested in infrastructure bonds, five per cent in infrastructure funds, 35 per cent in corporate bonds, and 20 per cent in mutual funds.

Speaking in Abuja on “Using Pension Funds for Infrastructure Development to Enhance Inclusive Growth” at an interactive forum organised by the Financial Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), she also disclosed that a multi-funds investment structure was being put in place to allow people some flexibility in investment choice, taking into consideration age, among others.

However, the PenCom boss further revealed that having recovered about N10 billion from employers who had failed to remit pension deductions, the commission had engaged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute employers who criminally deduct pensions without remitting same to Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs).

Represented at the forum by the Head, Investment and Supervision Unit, PenCom, Mr. Ehimeme Ohioma, the director general said the prosecution of such employers should begin soon with a “name and shame” strategy.

Nevertheless, she said the unavailability of investment projects remained a major challenge to the investment of pension assets in the country.

She identified other constraints to include political risk, policy somersaults, and lack of continuity, adding that less than three per cent of assets are currently invested in infrastructure through state government bonds.

She said government and other stakeholders had not really taken advantage of pension assets to develop infrastructure in the country.

Anohu-Amazu said as part of efforts to deepen pensions, a micro-pension scheme was being finalised to provide opportunities and products targeted at over 50 million people in the informal sector of the economy.

She said the proposed infrastructure projects should, however, be commercially viable and self-financing or able to generate cash flows to repay overtime while bid/concession processes must be open and transparent.

She added that political risks must be guaranteed for projects by the federal government or the IFC/World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) to effectively tap into pension funds for infrastructure development.