Sanwo-Olu clears N68.5bn pension arrears for Lagos retirees

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has cleared N68.5 billion in pension arrears for public servants who retired from the state’s service.

Bode Agoro, head of service in the state, spoke on Tuesday in Lagos during a sensitisation event on the contributory pension scheme (CPS) for public servants.

The event was organised by the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC).

Agoro praised Sanwo-Olu for prioritising the welfare of retirees by ensuring they receive their benefits promptly upon retirement.

He also commended the governor for his continuous efforts to improve the welfare of public servants in the state.

The head of service said the CPS, which was passed into law on March 19, 2007, in Lagos, was to provide a sustainable retirement plan that ensures financial security upon staff retirement from active service.

“Since its introduction, a lot of government policies have been made to strengthen the Nigerian pension industry, provide security for citizens’ savings, well as protect workers’ retirement benefits,” Agoro said.

“However, all these policies have come with the need to align ourselves, as workers, with the evolvement of the scheme.

“Knowledge, they say is power, and information is key. Therefore, a man without the right information will no doubt be deformed.”

He said the sensitisation programme was organised to combat misinformation about the pension scheme, providing public servants with updated information.

Agoro also highlighted the state’s ongoing efforts to update data, including linking national identification numbers (NIN) to all accounts, such as bank and telecommunications accounts, to streamline pension payments.

LAGOS URGES PUBLIC SERVANTS TO UPDATE THEIR DATA WITH PFAs

Agoro urged public servants to update their data with their pension fund administrators (PFAs) to ensure smooth processing of their retirement payments.

The head of service said for individuals who recently had their service documents updated, changed their locations, or altered their names, the exercise was designed to offer them new opportunities to register those changes with their PFAs, accordingly.

“Considering the different development that public servants might have experienced over the years, this exercise will be made periodic to allow you register such development with your PFAs,” he said.

“This is to enable updated information that will ease processing of your retirement benefits by LASPEC as well as the PFAs.

“As partners in progress, our PFAs will be made available at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium at Alausa, Ikeja, for four days as scheduled in our circular, to attend to your proper documentation.”