Ebere Nwoji
The National Pension Commission (PenCom), has solicited for the support of the judiciary in propelling and deepening public knowledge and understanding of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPC) in Nigeria.
The Director General of PenCom, Chinelo Anohu Amazu, made the appeal at a workshop on the CPC organised for Justices, Judges and Senior Judicial Officers by the commission in Abuja recently.
She told the judges at the workshop that the important role of the Judiciary in ensuring that the pension reform remains on course and deepened, as enshrined in the PRA 2014 cannot be overemphasised.
“Therefore, in discharging this task, the Judiciary requires a forum such as the present one, for in-depth discourse on the provisions of the PRA 2014, as well as legal and institutional frameworks of the Contributory Pension Scheme. Accordingly, this workshop has been structured to achieve these important objectives”, said the PenCom boss.
She said to ensure total understanding of workings of the CPS scheme by the participants, PenCom, had carefully considered and selected the speakers at the workshop, in order to ensure effective delivery of its content.
“They include the pioneer Director General of the Commission, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad, Senior Legal practitioners and Pension Operators, adding that their papers would also be discussed by distinguished judicial officers and legal luminaries.
According to her, topics covered at the workshop have also been carefully designed to provide a clear and lucid understanding of the pertinent legal and regulatory aspects of the CPS that would enhance the knowledge of the Judicial Officers.
Major areas of discussion at the workshop include general overview of the CPS in Nigeria; the Application of Regulatory and Supervisory tools in the Nigerian Pension Industry; Perspectives on the Administration of Retirement and Terminal Benefits; Appraisal of the Regime of Administrative Sanctions, Offences and Penalties under the PRA 2014; An Examination of the Compliance and Enforcement Activities of PenCom and the Effectiveness of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms under the PRA 2014.
She told the legal luminaries of her expectation that at the end of the 2-day Workshop, the Justices and Judges would consider the workshop worthwhile due to the knowledge shared and imbibed on the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“The National Pension Commission (the Commission) organised this workshop within the ambit of its mandate of conducting public awareness, enlightenment and education on the establishment, operations and management of the CPS, as stipulated in Section 23 (f) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.
This Workshop is the third in the series organised specifically for the Honourable Justices and Judicial Officers as part of the continuous effort to disseminate knowledge and understanding of the rudiments and mechanism of the CPS, in order to facilitate the onerous task of adjudication on pension matters by the Honourable Justices and Judges of the apex and lower courts,” she stated.
