Cynthia Ezekwe
CrusaderSterling Pensions Limited (CPL), a Nigerian pension fund administrator (PFA), said it has distributed N137 billion in benefits payments to its contributors and retirees.
The company made the disclosure at its 13th annual stakeholders forum held in Lagos, noting that the settlements range from lump sum, death benefits, En-bloc, loss of job benefits, equity release via mortgages, and other approved National Pension Commission (PenCom) regulated benefit payments, from its inception in 2004 to date.
Rotimi Adebiyi, managing director and chief executive officer, CrusaderSterling Pension, noted that the welfare of its retirees remained a top priority to the PFA.
He affirmed that the PFA will always align itself with the objectives of the Pension Reform Act of 2004, particularly in assisting individuals by ensuring that they save to cater to their livelihood during old age, thereby reducing old-age poverty. He added that the PFA will continue to ensure that pensioners are not subjected to untold suffering, due to the inefficient and cumbersome process of pension payment.
He stated: “The enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004 brought about a new era of relief from these challenges through the establishment of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) supervised by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
“We give kudos to former President Obasanjo’s government which brought about the CPS. Since we kicked off on 12th October 2004, we have achieved a whole lot. We have settled N137bn as benefits payments ranging from lump sum, death benefits, En bloc, loss of job, equity release via mortgages, and other approved PenCom regulated benefit payments,” he said.
Adebiyi pointed out that CPL is renowned for delivering superior returns to contributors and other stakeholders for many years and would do more. This, he said, is evident when Augusto & Co., rated the company as the first PFA to be assigned a Pension Fund Manager rated ‘A’.
