How I saved Jigawa pension scheme from collapsing

The Governor of Jigawa State, Umar Namadi, has narrated how his administration saved the state and local governments’ contributory pension schemes from collapsing.

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Mr Namadi said the administration reformed the schemes to improve the welfare of civil servants and retirees in the state.

He stated this on Thursday at an event marking this year’s Workers’ Day held at the Mallam Aminu Kano Triangle in Dutse, the state capital.

“It’s important to note that the pension scheme in Jigawa State was almost collapsing when we came in. We injected over N7 billion to sustain it.

“We have initiated a process of reviewing the law (pension scheme law) to ensure that all the grey areas are addressed and to ensure the continuity of the pension scheme”, Mr Namadi said.

The governor’s remarks on the pension scheme were his first since assuming office. After PREMIUM TIMES reported it several times, he admitted an infraction in the administration of pension funds in the state.

In January 2024, the government injected N2 billion into the scheme, N3.4 billion in August, and another N1.5 billion in January to help pay the pensions and gratuities of the retiring civil servants.

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PREMIUM TIMES reported that the state government disengaged five of its six pension fund administrators (PFAs) in March after bailing out the scheme from a financial crisis.

The state’s Head of Civil Service, Muhammad Dagaceri, said the steps were taken to secure the financial future of pensioners and enhance transparency and efficiency in the pension management process.

The disengaged PFAs are Veritas Pension, Leadway Pension, Fidelity Pension, Access Pension, and Oak Pension.

Mr Dagaceri announced Premium Pension Fund (lead PFA), PAL Pension, GT Pension, NLPC Pension, Norrenberger Pension and Crusader Sterling Pension as the new firms engaged to manage the Board’s assets.

The official said the state government renewed its engagement with Norrenberger Pension following years of satisfactory performance.

The contributory pension scheme has faced many challenges in recent years, and observers have warned that it may collapse.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the 27 local governments in Jigawa State failed to remit about N3.2 billion in statutory pension deductions and contributions for several years.

Official documents exclusively obtained and reported by this newspaper revealed that the councils did not remit appropriate pension dues in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

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The documents also suggest that the councils’ failure to remit the funds as mandated by law and the mass retirement of civil servants without recruitment damaged the state contributory pension scheme.

The document, a transitional committee report, listed the outstanding payment backlog of the 27 local government councils as the 17 per cent contributions from September 2014 to May 2015, which amounts to N1.25 billion.

Similarly, in 2019, unremitted funds stood at N254.6 million, N795 million in 2020 and N920.9 million in 2021, totalling over N3.2 billion.