By David Bamidele
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said that a total of 88,213 new Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) holders have been added to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as of 31 December 2023.
The commission revealed in its fourth quarter of 2023 report displayed on its website.
According to the report, the new accounts were accompanied by Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) assigned to workers spanning diverse sectors.
The report also noted that analysis of the RSA registrations across pension fund administrators (PFAs) revealed that Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers continued to maintain the largest market share of 24 per cent of new registrations with 21,212 contributors registered, followed by Access Pensions Limited, which had 19.9 per cent with 17,573 new contributors registered.
Other PFAs include“ARM Pension Managers Limited, Leadway Pensure PFA Limited, and Premium Pension followed by 9.4 per cent, 8.1 per cent, and 6 per cent of the new registrations during the quarter respectively.
Consequently, the top five PFAs collectively held about 67.39 per cent while the bottom five PFAs recorded an aggregate of 5.38 per cent of the 88,213 new RSAs registered in the 4th quarter of 2023,” the commission said.
According to the report, analysis of the new registrations in 2023 by age and gender indicated that out of the 88,213 registrations, 83.45 per cent or 73,612 were active contributors below the age of 40.
Of this number, 42,406 or 48 per cent of the new registrations were below 30 years of age.
This, according to the commission, points to the increasing sustainability of the CPS, as the younger generation is actively being enlisted into the scheme.
On the gender distribution, the commission said 53,422 or about 61 per cent of those who registered during the quarter were male, thus sustaining dominance over the female gender in terms of registration into the scheme.
The report also disclosed that from the inception of the recovery initiative in June 2012 until December 31, 2023 11-year, a cumulative amount of N25.447 billion has been recovered from defaulting employers.
This, according to Pecos, comprises N12.929 billion in principal contributions and N12.518 billion in penalties, all collected from defaulting employers.
The report also noted that throughout the fourth quarter of 2023, a total of N319.469 million was recuperated, consisting of N128.176 million in principal contributions and N191.293 million in penalties, all retrieved from thirty-two (32) delinquent employers.
During the quarter, the sum of N319,468,587.45 comprising principal contributions (N128,176,029.95) and penalties (N191,292,557.50) was recovered from thirty-two (32) defaulting employers.
Meanwhile, the commission Secretariat/Legal Advisory Services Department had been requested to take legal action against four (4) defaulting employers.
From the commencement of the recovery exercise in June 2012 to 31 December 2023, a total sum of N25,447,085,186.71 comprising of principal contributions (N12,929,415,445.52) and penalties (N12,517,669,741.19) was recovered from defaulting employers,” the report noted.
