Assembly Holds Public Hearing On Pension Bill

Rivers State House of Assembly, at the weekend, held a public hearing to reform the pension law of the state, as it assured pensioners that henceforth they will start enjoying their retirement benefits as at when due.
This follows the presentation of an executive bill tagged Rivers State Pension Reform bill 2019(HA23) to the House penultimate week.
Speaker of the Assembly Rt Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani in his remarks  urged the pensioners to have hope in the government insisting that the Rivers State House is duty bound to synergize with the executive to better the lives of the people, noting that one of the defects that the bill seeks to address is to make it possible for pensioners to access their pensions even when the government has not contributed theirs.
Chairman of the Committee on SSG, Head of Service and Pension, Hon. Benibo Anabraba described the bill as a good one that will better the lives of pensioners in the state and expressed the commitment of the House to making laws for the good of Rivers people and those resident in the state.
Also speaking, Rivers State Commissioner for Justice and  Attorney General, Barrister Zachaeus  Adango said with the new law in place Government would no longer bear total responsibility of funding pensions.
“Under the former scheme government was solely responsible for funding pension, but under this scheme that responsibility  is shared between government and the employees, so you must be prepared to commit your monthly emolument towards saving for your pension,” he said .
The Attorney General posited that retirees  would only  have to earn according to the level of their contribution and the return on their investment.
On her part,  Chairperson of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Beatrice Itubo in her statement described the bill as a good one,  lamented the failure of government  to contribute their own part of the pension which according to her constitute a major challenge in the scheme
“But what we have seen is that our leaders have not gotten the political will to implement their own part of the bargain,” Itubo stated.
She also solicited for the implementation of the accrued pension right for civil servants to make it possible for civil servants who were not in the contributory pension arrangement to at least benefit something upon retirement
Also a member of the Association of Civil Servants in the state, Comrade Sam Chikwere who disclosed that over N70bn is being owed pensioners in the state and urged the government to scrap the entire contributory pension scheme
He said, “because there is no sincerity on the part of government, government lacks the capacity to manage this pension we are saying that the scheme should be scrapped forthwith
A representative of the national pension commission Murtala Mohammed Modibo said the national pension commission which regulates pension matters in the country has  established an institutional framework to ensure a sound and sustainable   pension industry in the country, noting that the commission has engaged states in the country in guiding them in the implementation of pensions operations while adding that since government can no longer fund pensions alone, certain amounts should be deducted at source from the salaries of civil servants for pension. He also lamented the lack of commitment on the part of government towards implementation of the pension law