Use N19.5trn Pension fund assets for national Devt-Obasanjo

By Motolani Oseni

Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo is advocating the use of N119.5 trillion pension fund assets for national development, especially, infrastructure investments safely and sustainably that do not jeopardize people’s pensions.

As of the end of January 2024, the pension fund assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS) was N19.5 trillion.

Obasanjo, who stated this in a recent interview with the chief executive of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Oguche Agudah, said, he is pleasantly surprised by the growth of the pension assets in the last 20 years, adding that, “what the pension industry needs to do now is to see how the pension assets that have been saved over the years can help more in national development, especially infrastructure investments safely and sustainably that does not jeopardize people’s pensions.”

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Obasanjo, who was speaking as part of the activities to mark 20 years of pension reforms in Nigeria, said, he chose the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS) for Nigeria during his regime and stressed that “it’s simple, we just see what other countries are doing and if it’s good for us we copy it and adapt. There is no harm in copying if we see what other countries are doing and it’s good for them, we adapt.”

When his administration instituted the pension reforms and pushed to have a bill to reform the way pension administration was done in Nigeria, he said, they did not think that the assets would grow this quickly and have the positive effect it has had so far.

The 2024 marks 20 years since the initial pension reform act was signed. The Pension Reform Act was the bedrock of a cross-cutting committee that worked on pension reforms in Nigeria which culminated in the drafting and enactment of the Pension Reform Act which essentially professionalised pension management in Nigeria, moved the management to the private sector and helped to wean the government from unsustainable pension liabilities.