A significant aspect of the transition to retirement for employees of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is participation in the Annual Pre-retirement Verification and Enrolment Exercise organised by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
PenCom recently announced the commencement of the 2022 Online Verification and Enrolment Exercise for retirees/prospective retirees of FGN Treasury-Funded MDAs. The exercise is scheduled to commence on Monday, 20th June 2022. All retirees and prospective retirees for the year 2022, are required to complete the verification and enrolment exercise by 31 August 2022 to enable the computation of their accrued pension rights. The accrued pension rights represent an employee’s benefits for past services rendered to the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) prior to the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), from the date of their first appointment to 30 June 2004.The annual exercise which is carried out to determine the accrued pension liability is in line with the provisions of Section 15 of the PRA 2014, which requires that the accrued entitlement of any employee under the Defined Benefit Scheme who migrated to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), be recognized by a Bond, which shall be redeemed into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA).
PenCom had automated the Pre-retirement Verification and Enrolment of prospective retirees of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDAs) in September 2021. Prior to this, the annual physical enrolment exercise by the Commission was conducted at selected centres in the six geo-political zones of the country. The restriction of mass gatherings which stemmed from the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, prevented the retirees and prospective retirees from being enrolled at the various centres, as had been the practice. In response to this challenge, the Commission successfully designed and developed the Online Enrolment Application, which automated the process. The Application which has capabilities to register, verify and enrol prospective retirees, effectively eliminates the need for mass gatherings while enhancing comfort for the prospective retirees who are now enabled to participate in the exercise through the Application. For added convenience, the application can be accessed either through mobile phones or computer systems.
