BY JOHNMARK UKOKO
Chief Executive of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Oguche Agudah has said it was time the country came to terms with the fact that pension assets and the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) provide ample opportunity for the development of critical infrastructure.
Agudah made the assertion in a bid to reassure Nigerian workers of the gains of contributory pension scheme, stressing that the current advocacy focused on educating Nigerians on the use of the collective wealth to boost national development.
His reassurance followed the call by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and some other stakeholders to exit the contributory pension scheme and agitations for a provision to allow a pensioner receive at least 75 per
cent benefits immediately upon retirement as benefits.
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As opposed to the existing 25 per cent, however, the PenOp boss insisted that the collective wealth should be used to help the system build better infrastructure, adding that there should be a limit to private consumption.
He lamented that the pension industry was being punished unduly for transparency, professionalism and consistency having operated for over 16 years.
The PenOp boss said the contributory pension scheme (CPS) remained the safest and the most sustainable scheme currently, adding that there had been in- built checks and balances by the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) as well as National Pension Commission (PenCom.
