The Acting Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar has described pension as key component of social security adding that the objectives of pension reform in the country was to reduce old age poverty.

Dahir-Umar who made the remark during an interaction with DAILY INDEPENDENT, noted that there were several initiatives embarked upon by governments at all levels to eradicate poverty through gigantic reforms or social security programmes and provide financial support directly to the poor without it achieving the set objectives.

“In its efforts to address old age poverty across all sectors of the economy, the Federal Government introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004 as a means of tested system to address many challenges being faced by retirees in having secured a sustainable old age income through pensions.

“A key objective of the reform was to generate a pool of investible funds that would drive economic growth and facilitate the development of the capital market and innovation in the banking system. To ensure the smooth operations of the new industry, the Commission was established to regulate, supervise and ensure the effective administration of pension matters in Nigeria”, she said.

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