Abuja – December 28, 2023 – Viewpoint Housing News.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved a total of N7.89 billion to 649 contributory pension scheme (CPS) contributors seeking residential mortgages in the country.
This was disclosed during a media briefing on the subject by the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp).
The association’s data further revealed that, as of October 2023, the overall fund under the CPS was valued at 17.64 trillion, with contributions from workers at the public and commercial sectors totaling more than N9 trillion.
According to Oguche Agudah, CEO of PenOp, workers contributions made up 54% of the total. By contrast, 46% of the assets in the pension fund came from the returns on investments.
Oguche also said workers’ contributions were invested and the returns were paid to the workers’ pension savings to reduce the effect of inflation on the funds.
According to him, as of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the PFAs had recovered N24.8 billion from defaulting employers,
The PenOp CEO noted that in the second quarter of 2023, N665.13 billion had been paid as a lump sum to annuity retirees, while N964.24 billion went to programmed withdrawal retirees, making a total of N1.64 trillion to 442,000 retirees.
He said that N208.86 billion was paid to 475,235 workers who lost their jobs before the official retirement age and could not get another job after four months.
However, the total death benefits paid to 91,214 beneficiaries, he said, amounted to N356.32 billion.
He said the expectations of the operators in 2024 and beyond are to celebrate 20 years of the Pension Reform Act, show greater focus on micro pensions, and also look into the revision of investment guidelines.
He added that the operators looked forward to more applicants and approvals for RSA mortgage, possible kick-off of offshore investment, and infrastructure consortium.
