The CPS was established in June 2004 by the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004, which was repealed and reenacted in July 2014.

Under the CPS, both the employer and employee contribute certain percentages of the employee’s monthly emoluments to build a retirement fund from which benefits are paid at retirement while under the Defined Benefits (DB) Scheme, total pension obligation is borne by the employer.

The main objective of the CPS is to ensure that every person that worked in either the public or private sectors in Nigeria, including the self-employed persons, receives his/her retirement benefits as and when due.

The basic features of the CPS are:

1. It is contributory.
2. It is fully funded.
3. It is based on individualized Retirement Savings Account (RSA).
4. It is privately managed by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) under the custody of Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).
5. Provision of Group Life Insurance.

The minimum rate of contribution is 18% of the employee’s monthly emoluments where 10% is contributed by the employer and 8% is contributed by the employee. However, the employer may decide to bear the full responsibility of the contribution provided it is not less than 18% of the monthly emolument of the employee.

An employee may decide to make additional contributions above the minimum 8% provided the employee’s total contribution and other deductions do not exceed one-third of his/her total monthly emoluments.

The constituent of monthly emoluments is as may be defined in the employee’s contract of employment, but should not be less than the total sum of basic salary, housing and transport allowances.

A fully funded scheme is a pension scheme that has sufficient assets to fully pay the retirement benefits of its members at all times.

An RSA is an account opened by an employee with a PFA of his/her choice, into which all pension contributions are remitted and thereafter invested for the purpose of paying retirement/terminal benefits.

Unlike a bank account, the RSA can only be accessed at retirement, loss of job, medical incapacitation or in the event of death.

A PFA is a company licensed by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for the sole purpose of managing and administering pension and other retirement benefit schemes’ assets. Some of the PFAs are licensed to manage and administer retirement benefit schemes for staff of organizations that had existing pension schemes prior to the commencement of the CPS in 2004. These companies are called Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs).

A PFC is a company licensed by PenCom for the sole purpose of holding all pension funds and assets on trust for employees as well as beneficiaries of the RSA and other retirement benefit schemes.

The employer deducts and remits both the employee and employer portions of pension contributions to the PFC. The PFC notifies the PFA immediately upon receipt of the contributions.

PenCom is the regulator and supervisor of all pension matters in Nigeria. It licenses all pension operators; issues regulations and guidelines; and ensures effective administration of all pension schemes in Nigeria.

The CPS covers employees in the public service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory, States, Local Governments and private sector organizations with 3 or more employees.

Yes, employees of organizations with less than 3 employees as well as self-employed persons can voluntarily participate in the CPS under the Micro Pension Plan (MPP).

Judicial Officers, members of the Armed Forces, the Intelligence and Secret Services of the Federation; retirees under any pension scheme existing before 30 June 2004; and employees who had 3 or less years to retire as at 30 June 2004.

Foreigners working in Nigeria are not mandated by law to participate in the CPS. However, such foreigners may voluntarily participate in the Scheme.

Nigerian citizens working abroad are not mandated by law to participate in the CPS. However, they may voluntarily participate.

Any person who resigns from an organization in Nigeria and takes up appointment outside Nigeria is entitled to make arrangements with the new employer to continue remitting his pension contributions into his/her RSA in Nigeria. However, if the person chooses to discontinue with the scheme in Nigeria or the new employer has an entirely different pension arrangement, he/she may access his RSA upon retirement or attaining the age of 50 years, whichever is earlier.

A retiree under the DB Scheme can voluntarily participate in the CPS if he/she secures a new employment.

An employee should approach a PFA of his/her choice, complete the RSA Registration Form and provide the following supporting documents:

• Letter of Employment or Attestation Letter (in the case of Police Personnel).
• Valid means of identification (Staff ID Card; National Driver’s Licence; Permanent Voter’s Card; National Identity Card or data page of International Passport).
• Enrolment Slip issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) indicating the National Identity Number (NIN).

The PFA would process the request for RSA registration and issue a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN).

An employee is required by law to open only one RSA, which should be maintained throughout his/her lifetime even if he/she changes employment, transferred his/her RSA to another PFA or retires.

Having more than one RSA would lead to incorrect remittances into the RSA and delay in payment of retirement benefits due to the need to reconcile the RSAs.

You are required to present all your RSA PINs to any of the PFAs that issued them. The PFA would recapture your details including one of the registered PINs. The recaptured PIN becomes your PIN for life, while all other RSA PINs will be forwarded to PenCom for deactivation after reconciling the balances (if any) in the RSAs associated with them.

Yes. All existing RSA holders in the public sector, private sector organizations and retirees, must participate in the data recapture exercise to update their biodata and biometric (picture and signature) information.

The implications of not participating in the data recapture exercise include:

1. Inability to access retirement benefits at retirement.
2. Non-resolution of multiple RSA registrations.
3. Reconciliation of multiple registrations of RSAs with balances will be hampered.
4. Inability of RSA holders to update registration records in the future.
5. Inability to transfer RSA from current PFA to another PFA.

The choice of a PFA for opening an RSA is the exclusive right of an employee. It is not permissible for an employer or a Union to compel its employees or members to open RSAs with a particular PFA.

All employers that have a minimum of 3 employees are required to obtain a unique identifier called “employer code” from PenCom by submitting a written request through any PFA of their choice. Every employee’s RSA is tied to his/her employer’s code.

a) Private Sector Employers:

• Written application on the company/organization’s letter-headed paper requesting for an employer code from PenCom.
• Certificate of incorporation/registration from relevant registering authority.
• Evidence of Taxpayer’s Identification Number (TIN).

b) Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs):

• Letter to PenCom on the MDA’s letter headed paper requesting for the issuance of an employer code and stating the source of funding of the MDA.
• The MDA’s Chart of Account number issued by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).

c) State Government MDAs

• Letter to PenCom from the State Pension Bureau/Board/Commission or Head of Service, as the case may be, requesting for the issuance of an employer code and stating the source of funding of the MDA.

The generation and issuance of an employer code by PenCom to any employer is at no cost.

The employer is obliged by law to deduct and remit pension contributions into the employee’s RSA not later than 7 working days from the date salaries are paid.

PenCom would mandate such employer to make the remittance already due, in addition to paying penalty, which would be at least 2% of the total unpaid contributions. Both the outstanding contribution and penalty would be paid into the employees’ RSAs.

The penalty is meant to compensate employees for the income that would have been earned if their pension contributions were remitted as and when due.

For employees on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) deducts and directly remits their contributions into their respective RSAs. However, for employees of Treasury Funded MDAs that are not yet on the IPPIS platform, their contributions are deducted by the OAGF and lodged into the Contributory Pension Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). PenCom, thereafter, advises the CBN to remit the contributions directly into their individual RSAs based on the nominal rolls submitted by the MDAs.

The PRA 2014 stipulates that pension contributions shall not be taxed. However, income earned on voluntary contribution would be taxed if withdrawn before 5 years from the date the contribution was made.

The investment of pension contributions is the sole responsibility of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) .

The investment activities of PFAs are guided by the provisions of the PRA 2014 and the Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets (Investment Regulation) issued by PenCom.

PFAs can only invest in the following instruments: Equitie s; Federal Government Securities; State/Local Government Bonds; Corporate Debt Securities; Money Market Instruments; Open/Closed-end Funds; Infrastructure Bonds & Funds; Private Equity Funds; and any securities/instruments that may be approved by PenCom, from time to time.

PFAs can only invest in instruments that satisfy quality requirements stipulated in the Investment Regulation, such as minimum risk rating, ability of a listed company to make profit and/or pay dividend, etc. In addition, the investment Regulation provides investment limits on each allowable instrument to ensure diversification of all investments made by PFAs.

No. The investment decisions are made by the PFA, however, the RSA Multi-Fund Structure introduced by PenCom allows a contributor to choose the Fund through which his/her pension contributions would be invested.

The RSA Multi-Fund Structure is designed for investing pension contributions based on the age and risk profiles of RSA holders.

There are four distinct funds, which differ from one another based on age classification, namely, Fund I (less than 50 years, but based on request); Fund II (default fund for all contributors less than 50 years); Fund III (50 years and above); Fund IV (strictly for retirees). In addition, there are two special funds, Fund V for participants in the Micro Pension Plan and Fund VI for those interested in having their contributions invested in non-interest financial instruments.

Contributors who are 49 years and below are in Fund II by default, but they can choose to move to Fund I. While contributors who are 50 years are in Fund III by default, but can choose to move to Fund II. However, contributors on Funds IV and VI are not allowed to move to any other Fund, while contributors on Fund V can move to either Fund II or III if they secure formal employment. Movements between the respective Funds are free once a year. Any subsequent request for movement is liable to nominal fees to be prescribed by PenCom.

The rates of return on pension fund investments vary from year to year, depending on prevailing economic conditions and performance of the Nigerian financial markets, as well as the investment strategies of the various PFAs. However, the Commission monitors the PFAs to ensure that returns are competitive and fair.

Income generated from investing pension contributions is fully distributed into the RSAs of contributors based on the proportion of the assets in the individual RSAs.

PFAs and PFCs are paid for their services through fees that had been clearly defined in the Regulation on Fees Structure issued by PenCom, which are Administration Fees and Asset/Income Based Fees.

This is a maximum of N100.00 charged to individual RSAs by PFAs on monthly basis to cover expenses incurred for providing services such as printing and distribution of RSA statements, monthly collection and reconciliation of pension contributions.

Asset/Income Based Fees are charges on Pension Funds for services rendered in investing the pension contributions by PFAs, keeping custody of pension assets by PFCs, and regulating the pension industry by PenCom.

PenCom ensures that pension contributions are safe. This is achieved through the separation of the investment and custody functions between PFAs and PFCs. Furthermore, there is effective monitoring and supervision through daily monitoring of the investment decisions made by the PFAs in order to ensure compliance with the PRA 2014 and the Investment Regulation. Moreover, there are stringent provisions in the Regulations for the Investment of Pension Fund Assets, that ensures the ring fencing of the assets and allowing investments only in instruments with minimal risks. There is also a sealed guarantee such that in case of any infraction, the PFC or its parent company will pay any amount that may be lost due to the infraction.

A Pension Protection Fund was established by the PRA 2014 to among others, compensate eligible retirees for shortfall or financial losses that may arise from investment activities of the PFAs.

The PRA 2014 prohibits the use of pension fund assets under the management of PFAs to offset or grant loans and credits or as collateral for any loan taken by the contributor or his employer.

PFAs can invest pension contributions in infrastructure through Infrastructure Bonds and Funds provided they meet all the safety and quality requirements stipulated in the Investment Regulation.

Employees of the Federal, State and Local Governments who worked before the commencement of the CPS, would have their pension and gratuity, which accrued under the DB Scheme, computed and remitted to their respective RSAs at retirement.

Retirement Bond represents the total amount equivalent to the pension and gratuity that accrued under the DB Scheme.

Accrued pension and gratuity of eligible employees of Federal Government Treasury Funded MDAs are paid from the Retirement Benefit Bond Redemption Fund (RBBRF), which was established and is maintained by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Federal Government pays an amount not less than 5% of the monthly wage bill payable to employees in the public service of the Federation into the RBBRF for the payment of this liability.

No. The FCT has established a separate RBBRF Account with the CBN into which it pays 5% of the monthly wage bill payable to its employees and from which accrued pension and gratuity are paid to eligible FCT employees.

Private sector employers are required to determine the accrued pension and gratuity benefits, where applicable, and transfer the amount so determined into the individual RSAs of their eligible employees.

The Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate (PTAD) established by the PRA 2014 is responsible for the payment of pension and gratuity to employees of the FGN Treasury Funded MDAs who are exempted from the CPS (retired under the DB Scheme). The FGN would continue to provide the required finances to the PTAD for the payment of pension until the last pensioner under the DB Scheme is no more.

Private sector employees who retired prior to the commencement of the CPS will continue to receive pension based on the terms and conditions of their employment.

The employee’s portion of the pension contributions would be refunded to the affected employee while the employer portion would be transferred back to the employer.

The amount contributed should be transferred to their RSAs within thirty (30) days of registration. The employer is required to notify PenCom of such transfers.

Employees of an organization that is operating an AES, which is being managed by a PFA or a Closed PFA, are entitled to choose to remain in the AES/CPFA or open RSAs with any PFA of their choice and request that their retirement benefits be transferred into such RSAs. However, new employees of such organizations, from July 2014, cannot join the AES/CPFA, but are mandated by the PRA 2014 to join the CPS.

The pension contributions made under the NSITF Scheme before the commencement of the CPS, including all investment incomes, shall be transferred to the RSA opened by the respective NSITF contributor.

Existing pensioners under the NSITF Scheme will continue to receive their retirement benefits based on the terms and conditions upon which the contributions were made. PenCom supervises the process to ensure that it is in line with the laid down rules and regulations.

Contributions made by this category of NSITF contributors will be computed in line with the NSITF Act 1993 and paid into their individual bank accounts.

No. The PRA 2014 provides that only private entities licensed by PenCom are allowed to manage and administer pension funds and assets. Consequently, all contributions in the NSITF pension fund have been transferred to Trustfund Pensions Limited for management.

NSITF will continue to be responsible for social security services as provided under the Employees Compensation Act 2010.

There are two basic benefits under the CPS, namely periodic (monthly or quarterly) pension and one-off lump sum payments.

There are two modes for accessing periodic pension payments under the CPS, namely, Programmed Withdrawal (PW) and Life Annuity.

This is a method by which the retiree collects his retirement benefits in monthly or quarterly amounts throughout the length of an estimated lifespan which is determined using mortality (actuarial) tables. This is a product offered by the PFA. When a retiree dies, any balance in the RSA will be paid to the duly nominated beneficiaries.

This is a series of monthly or quarterly payments paid to a retiree for life. This is a product offered by Life Assurance companies.

A lump sum payment is an amount of money that is paid once, at retirement, from the RSA.

An employer may choose to pay additional severance benefits, including gratuity, provided these additional benefits are going to be fully funded by the employer. In addition, the operational modalities and the size of the benefits are at the discretion of the employer.

Life Annuity payments are guaranteed for ten years. Thus, if the retiree dies before attaining ten years of receiving annuity payments, the monthly annuity/pension will be paid to his beneficiaries for the remaining period up to ten years. For example, if a retiree who chose annuity dies six years after retirement, his monthly pension for the next four years will be paid to his beneficiaries.

The retiree can buy a Life Annuity contract by paying a portion of his/her RSA as premium to an insurance company, which in turn provides the monthly/quarterly payments (annuity), subject to the Regulations jointly issued by PenCom and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Yes. It is possible for a retiree to change to Life Annuity after collecting his retirement benefits through Programmed Withdrawal for some time. In this case, the remaining balance in the RSA will be utilized as premium to purchase the Life Annuity from an insurance company, which will be paying him monthly pension/annuity for life.

No. Once a retiree has chosen to collect his/her benefits through Life Annuity, he/she is not allowed to change to Programmed Withdrawal. However, the retiree can change his annuity contract from one insurance company to another after every two years. The amount to be paid as annuity/pension will be based on the balance to be transferred between the insurance companies.

The RSA balance is made up of three components, namely, accrued rights, accumulated monthly pension contributions and income earned on investing the contributions.

Employees of Treasury Funded FGN MDAs are required to be enrolled by PenCom. The information collected during enrolment exercise will be utilized for the issuance of the Retirement Bond and/or computation of bond value. The enrolment exercise is conducted annually for those retiring in the coming year.

Any FGN employee who misses the annual enrolment can come to the Head Office of PenCom for an in-house enrollment, which normally commences two (2) months after the conclusion of the annual enrollment and ends two (2) months before the next annual exercise.

Where an FGN employee is promoted after enrolling for the payment of accrued rights, a copy of the promotion letter indicating grade level and step and effective date should be forwarded to PenCom along with a copy of his/her registration slip obtained during the enrolment exercise. These will be used to compute and pay any difference in the monthly contributions that may occur as a result of the promotion. However, if a retiring employee’s promotion relates to a period when his MDA had moved to IPPIS, such case will be handled by the IPPIS Office.

Retirement age under the CPS depends on each employee’s terms and conditions of employment.

There is no eligibility period for pension under the CPS. If an employee works for an employer, his pension contribution will be paid by the employer into the employee’s RSA for the period of his/her service. However, access to the contributions must be in line with the provisions of the PRA 2014 and the Regulation on the Administration of Retirement and Terminal Benefits issued by PenCom.

An RSA holder will have access to his/her RSA upon retirement based on his/her condition of service or upon attaining the age of 50 years (whichever is later) or is medically incapacitated.

Where an employee voluntarily retirees, disengages or is disengaged while still under 50 years of age, he/she can have access to 25% of his/her RSA provided that such employee is unable to secure another employment after 4 (four) months of such retirement/disengagement.

Where an employee who has been contributing under the CPS dies before retirement, his/her benefits shall be paid to the named beneficiary as provided under a will or to the next of-kin. In the absence of such designation, the benefit shall be paid to any person appointed by the Probate Registry as the Administrator of the estate of the deceased.

Such an employee may re-enter the Scheme upon securing a new employment. The new employer would remit his pension contributions into his original RSA.

The balance in the RSA will be applied towards the payment of monthly pension to the retiree on programmed withdrawal. In the case of annuity, it is applied to procure a monthly annuity for life from a Life Assurance company.

This is possible provided the amount left in the RSA after such lump sum withdrawal shall be sufficient to fund a Programmed Withdrawal or Life Annuity of not less than 50% of the retiree’s monthly remuneration as at the date of retirement.

A retiree with RSA balance of not more than N550,000 will be entitled to withdraw the entire balance in the RSA as lump sum at retirement. For RSA balance of more than N550,000, the retiree will be placed on monthly pension. However, if the retiree has contributed for a certain number of years, to be determined by PenCom from time to time, he/she will be entitled to a guaranteed minimum pension, as provided by PRA 2014.

The RSA balances may differ due to the following major reasons:

1. The timing and regularity of their promotion may be different
2. Their respective Grade Levels/Steps as at June 2004 and resulting amounts of accrued rights generated under the defunct Defined Benefit scheme may be different
3. The regularity of remittance of pension contributions under the CPS may be different
4. Return on investment by the PFAs may differ slightly due to their investment decisions and prevailing market conditions.

The amounts may differ due to the following major reasons:

1. Differences in their RSA balances as described in No. 23 above.
2. The age and gender.
3. Each of the retirees may have made different choices at retirement. For instance, one retiree may choose to collect the minimum lump sum or no lump sum at all so that his monthly pension can be higher. The other retiree may have chosen to collect a lump sum that is higher than the stipulated minimum and reduce his monthly pension.

The consolidated benefits of a deceased employee include his/her accumulated monthly contribution including any income that accrued from investing the contributions; benefits from Group Life Insurance Policy; and accrued pension benefits.

Upon the death of an employee, the employer/Next of Kin (NoK) or representative of the deceased shall notify the PFA, who in turn shall duly notify PenCom. The deceased’s consolidated benefits are, thereafter, paid in bulk to the Executors of his estate or to any person appointed by the Probate Registry as the Administrator of his estate to enable them apply the same in favour of his beneficiaries. The employer should also process the proceeds of the Group Life Insurance Policy and ensure payment by the insurance company to the beneficiaries.

For a deceased person who did not open an RSA before his death, the retirement benefits will be processed and paid to the beneficiaries from the Temporary RSA opened for him/her by the employer.

Every employee is entitled to a Group Life Insurance Policy for at least 3 times his/her Annual Total Emolument.

An employee’s ATE is the total sum of basic salary and all allowances payable as his/her remuneration for one year, as may be provided under the salary structure or terms and conditions of his/her employment.

The premium for Group Life Insurance Policy is paid by the Employer. The employee does not bear any cost to this effect. The employer is obligated to pay the equivalent amount of the Group Life insurance to the beneficiaries of the deceased where it does not have an existing Group Life Insurance Policy for its employees.

No. Employees are covered for the period in which they are in active service of the employer. Hence, the policy does not cover the employee after disengagement/retirement from the service of the employer.

The Federal Government provides Group Life Insurance cover for her employees through the coordination of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHOSF).

Yes. An employer may provide Group Life Insurance cover that provides benefits over and above three times the ATE of its employees. In addition, any employer that has an existing policy whose terms are better than three times the ATE should maintain such policy.

The timeline for finish processing applications for benefits payment is not more than five (5) working days from the date the application is received by PenCom from the PFA.

Pension under the CPS shall be increased after every five years or whenever there is increase in the salaries of active workers in line with the provisions of Section 173 of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended). In addition, pension can be enhanced based on increased RSA balances occasioned by high returns on investment of the retiree assets by the PFAs.

PenCom ensures that only fit and proper persons are appointed as Directors and Top Management of the PFAs and PFCs. It also entrenched sound corporate governance in the pension industry, which is strictly monitored through off-site supervision to review the reports submitted by the PFAs and PFCs on periodic basis; and on-site examination to physically review their books and records, on annual basis, to confirm that their operations are within the confines of the law.

Pension funds and assets are kept in safe custody by the PFC and, as such, the liquidation of the PFA will not affect the funds and assets. In such situations, PenCom will transfer the records of the failed or liquidated PFA to another PFA. In addition, every PFA is expected to maintain a statutory reserve fund, from its earnings, as contingency fund to meet claims for which it may be liable.

The failure or liquidation of a PFC will not affect the pension assets in its custody as it only keeps investment certificates and records. The only cash being held by the PFC comprises of monthly contributions before decisions are made by the PFA to invest the amount contributed; and matured investments before reinvestment by the PFA. In addition, PenCom has the power and responsibility in such situations to transfer the pension fund assets being held by any failed PFC to another PFC.

Pension funds cannot be used to meet any claim in the event of liquidation, winding up or cessation of business of the PFA or PFC or any of their shareholders.

In order to prevent conflict of interest, an organization should not own shares in a PFA and a PFC at the same time, but it can have shareholding in more than one PFA or PFC.

Where an individual or institution owns shares in more than one PFA or PFC, he/she cannot have significant shareholding (5% and above) in more than one PFA or PFC.

Section 77(2) of the PRA 2014 prohibits a PFA from keeping any pension fund assets with a PFC in which it has any business interest, shares or any relation whatsoever.

The PRA 2014 provides that pension funds or assets in the custody of the PFC shall not be seized or be subject of execution of a judgment debt.

A PFA is prohibited from investing pension fund assets in the shares or any other securities issued by itself or its PFC and also in investing in shares or any other securities issued by a shareholder or related party of the PFA or its PFC.

Pension funds cannot be borrowed directly by Governments at Federal, States and Local levels. However, PFAs are allowed to invest pension assets in Treasury Bills issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or Bonds (including Sukuk) issued by the Federal or State Governments and approved by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and other relevant institutions.

A company can obtain certificate of compliance by formally applying to the Commission and attaching the following documents:

1. Certified list of employees of the organization as at the end of the last fiscal year.
2. Certified rates of monthly contributions indicating the employer (minimum 10%) and employee (minimum 8%) rates.
3. Evidence of remittance of pension contributions for the last three fiscal years for organizations that were in existence for that period; and from the date of incorporation/registration/licensing to the last fiscal year for organizations that were not in existence for the last three fiscal years.
4. Evidence of transfer of pension fund and assets meant for any pre-2004 retirement benefits scheme into the employees RSA
5. Evidence of remittance of all outstanding pension contributions and penalties where applicable.
6. Evidence of valid Group Life Insurance Policy, which should include Certificate of Group Life, Policy Document and evidence of payment.

The PRA 2014 has made compliance with its provisions not mandatory for organizations that employ less than three persons. Therefore, Compliance Certificates are not issued to such organizations. In addition, the PRA 2014 does not require PenCom to issue clearance letters to them.

Section 103 of the PRA 2014 provides punishments varying from fines to imprisonment for different offences that may be committed by companies and/or Management of such companies.

Such an employer has committed an offence and is liable to a fine of not more than N250,000.00 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both fine and imprisonment.

Note: The above applies where no penalty is prescribed and it is in addition to making the remittance already due plus 2% interest per month payable into the employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA)

When an employee fails to open an RSA within a period of 6 months after assumption of duty, the employer shall request a PFA to open a nominal RSA for the remittance of the employee’s pension contributions. Thereafter, the contributions will be transferred to the RSA duly registered by the employee.

A PFA or PFC or any person or body that misappropriates pension funds is liable, on conviction, to a fine of an amount equal to three times the amount misappropriated or imprisonment for a term not less than ten years or to both fine and imprisonment. In addition, PenCom shall remove from office, any Director or Officer of such PFA or PFC who misappropriates the funds.

Such PFA or PFC has committed an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not less than N10m and each of its Directors or Officers responsible for the offence shall be liable to a fine of not less than N5m or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three (3) years or to both fine and imprisonment.

Any PFA who fails to comply with the provisions of the PRA 2014 on investment shall be liable to a penalty of an amount to be determined by PenCom, but in any case, shall not be more than N500,000.00 for each day the non-compliance continues and the PFA shall forfeit the profit from that investment to the beneficiaries of the RSA and if the investment has led to a loss, the PFA shall be made to make up for the loss.