Nigeria’s total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose to N9.81tn as of the end of October, 2019.

The National Pension Commission disclosed that the figure represents 70.43 per cent of the funds has been invested by the Pension Fund Administrators in the Federal Government of Nigeria’s securities, including FGN bonds, treasury bills, agency bonds, Sukuk bonds and green bonds.

The acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the CPS had, in the last 15 years, made appreciable progress in addressing most of the shortfalls of the erstwhile pension system.

She said the pension industry membership had grown to 8.85 million participants as of September 30, 2019, while the pension fund assets under management were deployed in critical sectors of the economy.

She said, “The number of retirees under the CPS as of September 30, 2019 amounted to 298,614. Out of that number, 227,400 retirees are on programmed withdrawal and 71,214 opted for annuity.

“In the same vein, death benefits have been paid to 59,057 beneficiaries. These statistics are clear evidence that the CPS has greatly improved access to retirement benefits for employees in both the public (Federal and State Governments) and private sectors”, the Commission said.

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