By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has decried its inability to physically verify pension-qualified employees of Treasury Funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.
The pension sector regulator said that the development is coming considering that these beneficiaries, due to retire from service between January and December 2021, won’t be duly verified because of implications brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
The commission, however, noted that it was putting an automated process in place that would ensure seamless conduct of the annual verification/enrolment exercise.
In a statement, the agency said, “This is to inform employees of Treasury Funded MDAs of the federal government that are due to retire from service between January and December 2021, that PenCom is unable to conduct the annual physical Verification/Enrolment exercise this year due to the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.
“However, the commission is putting an automated process in place to ensure seamless conduct of the annual verification/enrolment exercise.
“This new process has two options for the prospective retirees, namely self-assisted or the Pension Fund Administrator, PFA, assisted option.
“The self-assisted option entails a prospective retiree scanning original copies of all relevant documents required for the exercise and uploading those documents to the Enrolment web portal located on the commission’s website (www.pencom.gov.ng).
“After carrying out this process, the retiree is required to visit his/her PFA for the verification and validation of the submitted documents.
“If a prospective retiree chooses the PFA assisted option, he/she is required to initiate and conclude the Verification/Enrolment process by visiting his/her PFA to verify and validate all relevant original documents to enable the PFA to upload those documents to the Commission’s Enrolment portal on behalf of the prospective retiree.
“This exercise is scheduled to commence within the first quarter in 2021.
“Details will be published in the national newspapers and on the commission’s website on or before 31 March 2021.
“The commission assures prospective retirees and the public of its commitment to excellent service delivery.”
