A professor of Business Administration at the Federal University, Lokoja, Professor Mathew Fashagba, has called for the reforms of the Nigerian pension scheme to enable it to meet the requirements of pensioners.

Fashagba who delivered the 25th inaugural lecture of the Federal University Lokoja on Wednesday said the reforms were necessary because the present contributory pension scheme has not meet the requirements to guarantee adequate retirement benefits.

“When an Act is passed but fails to achieve its objectives, it becomes necessary to review it urgently. In the case of Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme, the Act has not successfully provided adequate retirement benefits,” he said.

He therefore listed some recommendations that must be considered for there to be retirement benefits adequacy in the country.

According to him, access to pension benefits must be reviewed probably from the current 50 years in the current Act to not less than 60 years, as is the case in other countries like the Netherland, which just reviewed their retirement age from 65 to 67 to sustain their pension system leadership in the world.

He said that there should be a guaranteed minimum pension for retirees which should be complemented by the government if need be through special legitimized funds created for that purpose.

Fashagba said that government must provide funds to complement pension benefits for retirees with little amount into the retirement savings account to ensure that no retiree suffers old age poverty.


https://punchng.com/don-calls-for-reforms-in-nigerias-pension-scheme/