Abia state government has announced plans to key its workforce into the contributory pension scheme of the federal government.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, made this know, Wednesday, while hosting the National Commissioner (Technical), representing South East and Directors of the National Pension Commission at Government House, Umuahia.
He directed the state head of service and commissioner for finance to come up with the technical advice on the framework with which it would commence as soon as possible.
He stated that full implementation of the contributory pension scheme was delayed owing to some challenges, but assured that his administration is determined to implement the scheme in the state.
Ikpeazu, who observed that one of the greatest problems of the state is wage bill management, expressed the hope that the contributory pension scheme, would solve the pension problems as it would provide reliable data.
He noted that with it, workers would look forward to retiring happily and appreciated the proposal of the Pension Commission (PENCOM) to establish a micro pension scheme for small and medium scale enterprises, saying that it would stabilize the economy and give hope to Abia artisans.
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He promised to lead serious advocacy in the micro pension scheme, adding that it would assist the artisans a great deal.
The Governor commended Nyerere Anyim for the good work done in the scheme and said that Abia is proud of him.
Nyerere Anyim, national commissioner (technical), representing South-East at the Pension Commission explained that his team was in the state as part of their tour of the South-East states, to create awareness on the need to implement the contributory pension scheme.
He commended Ikpeazu’s efforts towards the implementation of the contributory pension scheme, noting that having achieved the milestone of enacting the Pension Reforms Law in 2017, it is needful for the state to commence the full implementation of the scheme.
Anyim assured of his willingness to deploy the staff of PENCOM to work with Abia state to begin its implementation, saying that if Abia starts the implementation, it will be the first in the South East to do so.
He enumerated the benefits of keying into the scheme to include reducing pension burden on the government as there would be shared responsibility among the government, civil servants and pension managers.
He also said that the scheme will eliminate the ghost worker syndrome, adding that government can assess funds from the pension fund for strategic investment.
According to him, the micro pension plan will give access to the informal sector to assess income, adding that Aba was chosen as the hub of SME in the South East for the plan.
Oscar Onyema, chief executive officer of, Nigerian Stock Exchange and a director at PENCOM, who was also part of the delegation, told the Governor that the scheme can give the state the platform to use the instrumentality of the issuance of bonds to raise funds for development from the capital market.
