FG to End Delay in Pension Payments to Retirees

The Federal Government has started a process aimed at resolving the delays in the payment of retirement benefits to Federal Government retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The President has directed the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to appropriate and release in full a total of N62.83 billion to clear backlog of accrued pension rights of retirees.

A letter signed by the President’s Chief of State, Abba Kyari, directed the Budget office of the Federation to include N12.83 billion, N25 billion and another N25 billion in the budgets of 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively to settle the outstanding accrued pension rights of Federal Government employees.

Pension contributions of permanent employees of the federal government of Nigeria are deducted regularly at source by the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF)/Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) and credited to the Contributory Pension Account (CPA) at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Delay in the payment of retirement benefits of government employees who retired in June 2017 contributed to the insufficient funding of the Retirement Benefit Bond Redemption Fund (RBBRF) by the federal government, and this was due to decline in revenue over the years.

There are reports that the presidency is concerned that federal government retirees are owed pension and gratuity for so long and wants to see a change and FG pensioners would smile soon as the government is working to ensure funds for the payment of the arrears are made available.

Based on available information, the last accrued rights released by Federal Government is for August 2018.