Niger Advised to Allocate 20% of IGR to Pensions Payment

By Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Director General of the Niger State Pension Board Alhaji Tinau Ahmed Muhammed has asked the state government to affirm its policy that 20% of Internally Generated Revenue IGR should be committed to the payment of pensions and gratuities to retirees monthly.

Government had announced the new policy over a year ago following problems

being faced by the administration to meet its financial obligations to its retirees but the policy has not been implemented.

Speaking at the 2021″Roundtable Discussion” organized by the Niger State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC in Minna, the Director General of the Pension Board Alhaji Usman Tinau Muhammed noted that implementing the government pronouncement will go a long way to solve the problem retirees are going through in efforts to get their entitlements.

Muhammed also suggested that pension funds deducted should be invested in instruments that will have appreciable returns on such investments adding that License Insurance Companies should also

be approved to provide ” Group Life Insurance Services to state employees to cover death claims in the event of the demise of a civil servant”.

In addition Muhammed suggested that “A state Redemption Bond Account” should be serviced with a minimum of 5 per cent of the state and local government wage bill on monthly basis ” to cover for payments of Accident Rights as and when due”

Muhammad also said to bring stability to pension administration in the state “deductions and remittances should be resumed in line with the state new rate as embedded in the new law, 10.5% for employer and 7.5% for employees” advising that government should go

further by encouraging employees ” to do voluntary contributions as a way of having more funds available to them on retirement”.

He reminded the delay in remittances of deductions to the Board by the Ministry of Financial and that of Local Governments as a major hindrance to the operation of the Board saying also that sudden stoppage of deductions from workers salaries is another serious problem facing pension administration in the state.

It will be recalled that following the amendment to the Contributory Pension Scheme CPS Act in 2004, the Niger State CPS bill was passed into law in 2007 and provided for 15% monthly emoluments on the basis of 7.5% each employees and the government.