FG intensifies push for online verification, enrolment for retiring civil servants

Abuja: The Federal Government has intensified efforts to improve participation in the ongoing mandatory verification and enrolment exercise for civil servants with accrued pension rights.

This is due to the low turnout experienced in spite of the importance of the exercise.

This is contained in a statement issued by the management of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to PenCom, the commission is conducting a one-time nationwide online verification and enrolment exercise for all active employees of treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who were employed before June 30, 2004.

It said that the exercise, which commenced on Feb. 2 and expected to end on July 31, was aimed at capturing accurate and complete data on eligible workers.

According to the statement, this will support the timely payment of their accrued pension rights under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

PenCom said that the initiative was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to settle pension obligations carried over from the old Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), which existed before the introduction of the CPS in 2004.

“Under section 15(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014), employees who moved to the CPS are entitled to accrued pension rights, representing benefits earned under the DBS.

“To fund these obligations, the law provides for the establishment of the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund, domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” it said.

It said that a circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, on April 27, directed all treasury-funded MDAs to support the exercise.

PenCom said that the circular also emphasised that the verification was essential for determining the Federal Government’s outstanding pension liabilities and making adequate budgetary provisions for their settlement.

“Prior to the automation of the verification by PenCom a few years ago, the process relied on manual processes that were often affected by incomplete records and delays.

“The current exercise is fully digital and a significant technological improvement from the initial online enrolment platform,” it said

The commission said that it had deployed the new Contributions and Bond Redemption Application (COBRA), a secure platform designed to support real-time data capture, validation and processing.

It said that the platform included multiple layers of verification, such as biometric capture and cross-checking of employment records.

“This helps to improve data accuracy and reduce errors that could delay pension payments at retirement.

“To ensure smooth implementation and avoid system congestion, the exercise has been structured in phases,” it said.

It said that the first phase of the exercise, which ran from February 2 to March 31 covered employees expected to retire between January 2027 and December 2029.

“The ongoing second phase, from April 1 to July 31, is for employees who would retire from January 2030 onwards,” it said.

PenCom said that the idea was to improve coordination, enhance monitoring and ensure that all eligible employees were captured within the timeline.

It said participation had remained below expectations, which has led to a directive from the head of service mandating full compliance by all treasury-funded MDAs.

“MDAs are required to upload details of eligible employees on the COBRA platform.

“Affected employees are then required to visit their respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) with the necessary documents to complete the process,” it said.

It said that the Pension Desk Officers (PDOs) who had been trained by PenCom, were responsible for coordinating the exercise within their organisations and guiding staff through the process.

The commission assured employees that participating in the exercise would enable the computation of the employees accrued pension rights and advised the Federal Government of same for adequate provision to be made.

It said that this would ensure seamless access to benefits immediately after a worker retires.

It said that the Federal Government had directed Permanent Secretaries and heads of MDAs to widely publicise the directive and ensure full participation.

“Failure to take part in the exercise may complicate the processing of accrued pension rights at retirement and could lead to delays in accessing benefits,” it said.