Nigeria’s pension assets grew to N9.58 trillion as at September 2019, the Acting Director General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Aisha Dahiru-Umaru, has said.
The Director General, who disclosed this at a workshop organized for journalists by the commission, titled “Expanding Coverage of the Pension Industry”, said contributors to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) had also grown to 8.85 million.
“As at September 2019, the number of registered contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme had grown to 8.85 million while pension fund assets have grown to N9.58 trillion.
“This growth indeed justifies our emphasis on the safety of pension funds as the bedrock of sustaining the CPS,’’ she said, and assured all stakeholders that the pension reform remains steadily on course.
The DG, who was represented by Kunle Odebiyi, head, micro pension department, said the workshop was aimed at promoting professional reportage of activities relating to pensions in Nigeria and advance public awareness on the tenets of the CPS.
Aisha said the workshop will highlight the Micro Pension Plan launched by President Muhammadu Buhari, which is targeted at the informal sector and the self-employed, who are not mandatorily covered under the CPS.
“It is our expectation that the media practitioners would utilize the opportunity of this workshop to understand the essence and workings of the Micro Pension Plan and amplify same in their reportage for the overall benefit of Nigerians,” he said.
