We have been exposing State Governments’ status of implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in alphabetical order. Today we will be exposing the status of implementations of Cross River, Delta and Ebonyi States.
CROSS RIVER
Cross River state CPS Bill 2021 is still undergoing legislative process.
With the absence of any law on the CPS, it is therefore not surprising, that the state is yet to implement any other milestone towards full implementation of the CPS including the following:
• Yet to establish a Pension Bureau to oversee the process of implementation of the CPS;
• Yet to commence the registration of its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs);
• Yet to commence the remittance of pension contributions;
• Yet to conduct an Actuarial Valuation to determine the Accrued Pension Rights of employees that would be transiting into CPS;
• Yet to open Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account; and
• Yet to commence funding of Accrued Rights; and
• Yet to institute a Group Life Insurance Policy.
The following persons have ruled Cross River state as Governors from the time of the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 in 2004 to date.
1. Donald Duke from 29 May, 1999 – 29 May, 2007
2. Liyle Imoke from 29 May, 2007 – 29 May, 2915
3. Benedict Ayade from 29 May, 2015 – 29 May, 2023
4. Bassey Otu from 29 May, 2023 – Incumbent
Nineteen years after the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 that was of universal application in the federal and states public services in 2004, Cross River state has only drafted a bill on the CPS for the state public servants in 2021. The state is still at the bill stage.
DELTA STATE
Delta state enacted law on CPS in 2008 and amended the law in 2011. The state has put in place other milestone towards full implementation of the CPS including the following:
• Established two Pension Bureaus (one for state employees and another for local governments employees) to oversee the process of implementation of the CPS;
• Has registered its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs;
• Remitting 10% employer and 7.5% employees pension contributions (up to January 2022 for employees of local governments and up to December 2022 for employees of state government);
• Conducted an Actuarial Valuation to determine the Accrued Pension Rights of employees that transited from the old Defined Benefits Scheme into CPS; and
• Opened Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account (RBBRFA) with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The state is yet to institute a Group Life Insurance Policy and has huge areas of Accrued Pension Rights.
The following persons have ruled Delta state as Governors from the time of the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 in 2004 to date.
1. James Ibori from 29 May, 1999 – 29 May, 2007;
2. Emmanuel Uduaghan from 29 May, 2007 – 29 May, 2015;
3. Ifeanyi Okowa from 29 May, 2015 – 29 May, 2023;
4. Sheriff Oborevwori 29 May, 2023 – Incumbent.
The state has a life pension law infavour of former Governors and former deputy Governors, which guarantees that these former political office holders of the state maintain lives of luxury through generous pension and other benefits.
EBONYI STATE
Ebonyi state enacted the Ebonyi State Pension Reform Law (2017) in 2017 and is yet to implement any other milestone towards the full implementation of the CPS including the following:
• Yet to establish a Pension Bureau to oversee the process of implementation of the CPS;
• Yet to commence the registration of its employees with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs;
• Yet to commence the remittance of pension contributions;
• Yet to conduct an Actuarial Valuation to determine the Accrued Pension Rights of employees that would be transiting into CPS;
• Yet to open Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account; and
• Yet to commence funding of Accrued Rights; and
• Yet to institute a Group Life Insurance Policy.
The following persons have ruled Ebonyi state as Governors from the time of the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 in 2004 to date.
1. Sam Ominyi Egwu from 29 May, 1999 – 29 May, 2007;
2. Martin Elechi from 29 May, 2007 – 29 May, 2015;
3. David Nweze Umahi from 29 May, 2015 – 29 May, 2023; and
4. Francis Nwifuru from 29 May, 2023 – Incumbent.
Nineteen years after the repeal of the Pension Act 1990 that was of universal application in the federal and states public services in 2004, Ebonyi state only enacted a law on the CPS for the state public servants in 2017 and stopped at that level.
Section 210(1) of the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, provides that “Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the right of a person in the public service of a state to receive pension or gratuity shall be regulated by law.
Subsection (2) provides that “Any benefit to which a person is entitled in accordance with or under such law as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall not be withheld or altered to his disadvantage except as is permissible under any law, including the code of conduct.”
Subsection (3) provides that “Pension shall be reviewed every five years or together with any State Civil Service salary reviews, whichever is earlier.”
Takor was a two term President of NASU, a two term National Treasurer of NLC and an member of the inaugural Board of PenCom. Takor retired as a Director in federal public service and is now a Lagos-based legal practitioner. He is an alumnus of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru-JOS, Plateau State.
