The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, says N78.593bn has been paid into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts maintained by 10 Pension Fund Administrators as of March 2017.
Ambode stated this on Thursday in Ikeja, where the Lagos State Government was conferred with the ‘Award for Excellence on Pension Matters’ by Peninscope Professional Warranty Limited.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Benson Oke, said the state government had never failed to remit monthly contributions into the RSA of workers.
Ambode added that the government had been consistent in setting aside funds for the payment of accrued rights as provided for in the Lagos State Pension Reform Law.
According to him, the state government had paid accrued pension rights of about N61bn since the commencement of the Retirement Benefit Bond Certificate Presentations in 2010.
Ambode stated that the Lagos State Pension Reform Law now allowed for the maintenance of a RSA by each employee, which gave the workers responsibility over their retirement savings, as pensioners would no longer be at the mercy of an employer.
“In addition, RSAs maintained by millions of workers tend to generate massive long-term funds, which were available for investment. Owing to economies of scale, the cost of investing such funds tends to be relatively lower than if an individual worker was to undertake the investment on their own account,” he said.
Convener, 2017 Peninscope Public Lecture, Award and Magazine launching, Peter Adediji, said Ambode had displayed integrity in running the affairs of the state.