The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says that it has started the verification and enrolment of federal government workers that are due to retire in 2019. The exercise which has commenced in Abuja has seen no fewer than 2,700 Federal employees from FCT and Niger commenced their verification and enrolment at the Abuja centre. Mr Peter Aghahowa, the PenCom Head of Corporate Communications who confirmed the development said that the Abuja centre was part of phase II of the nationwide verification and enrolment programme. He said the phase II of the enrolment was ongoing in two other centres of Lagos and Ibadan, adding that phase one had been concluded in 12 other centres across the nation.
The exercise in Abuja has been on since July 30 and will end on August 17. It is meant for Federal Government employees due to retire between January and December 2019. Their retirement is hinged on attainment of 60 years of age or 35 years in service whichever is earlier or 65 years by age for employees of tertiary institutions or 70 years of age for professors. According to Aghahowa, the verification and enrolment are designed to facilitate payment of retirement benefits of the potential retirees. He said the physical enrolment also covered those who had already retired, but were yet to be enrolled.
Aghahowa said affected employees were requested to attend with originals and copies of letter of appointment, evidence of transfer of service and acceptance letter where applicable. Other documents are birth certificate or declaration of age, promotion letters, payslip indicating grade level and step as at June 2004. Others are “Promotion letter and payslip indicating grade level and step as at January, 2007, promotion letter and payslip indicating grade level and step as at July,2010.
“Promotion letter and payslip indicating grade level and step as at December 2013, Letter of introduction from the MDAs, staff identity card, letter or evidence of retirement where applicable, letter of indemnity from the MDA,” the PenCom spokesperson said. He said prospective retirees were also requested to come with evidence of registration with a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) indicating Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) and Personal Identification Number (PIN).
He said the MDAs were expected to send their Pension Desk Officers to identify potential retirees and confirm authenticity of the documents presented by the employees. He, however, said that potential retirees who were medically unfit were exempted from the exercise. Aghahowa said PenCom had earlier advised PDOs of medically unfit employees to present their documents and letters from qualified physician certifying that the affected employees were not capable of attending the exercise. According to him, the commission advises all prospective Federal Government retirees to take part in the exercise as it is a pre-condition for payment of their retirement benefits.
