The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, Training, and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, has reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to providing timely payment of pensions to its retirees through the various Pension Fund Administrators.
In a recent media briefing, Mrs. Ponnle dismissed a publication that alleged that the Lagos State government had failed to make pension payments in October, November, and December 2022, describing the news as unfounded and misleading. She stated that Lagos remained the most compliant state in Nigeria, according to the submission of the National Pension Commission.
“The LASPEC on October 14, 2022, paid the accrued rights of the sum of ₦1.062 billion to 288 retirees, and the sum of ₦2.54 billion to 754 retirees in December 2022,” she said.
Mrs. Ponnle further revealed that the Lagos State government had paid accrued rights of ₦11.4 billion to 3,480 retirees in 2022 and a total sum of ₦48.3 billion to 13,142 retirees since the inception of the administration.
She reiterated that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had never reneged on its responsibilities to retirees and that it has always acted in accordance with its contractual obligations.
Mrs. Ponnle highlighted the state’s compliance with the Contributory Pension Scheme, adding that the National Pension Commission certified Lagos as the most compliant state on the scheme.
“The Lagos State government increased the employers’ portion of 7.5 percent to 10 percent monthly pension contributions to employees’ retirement savings accounts. From January 2022 to date, the state government has remitted the sum of ₦13.7 billion for the mainstream employees, ₦3.18 billion in the local council, ₦13.319 billion for the state universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) employees,” she said.
She further emphasized that the state government maintains life assurance policy coverage of 300 percent of yearly emolument in favor of all employees.
Mrs. Ponnle stated that the Lagos State government is at the cutting edge of best practices in pension administration and that other states have even approached Lagos to learn how to manage their pension. She added that the outstanding ₦9 billion backlog of pension would be fully cleared in less than a year, as the state government pays at the rate of between ₦1 billion and ₦1.5 billion per month.
