Between July and September 2022, the Contributory Pension Scheme provided N13.36 billion in benefits to the families of 2,304 deceased workers.
This information was provided by the National Pension Commission in its third-quarter quarterly report for 2022, which our correspondent got.
According to the report, reimbursements were provided to the family of 582 late private sector employees and 1,722 late public sector employees.
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The pension regulator stated, “During the quarter under review, approvals were granted for payment of death benefits amounting to N13.36bn to the legal beneficiaries/administrator of 2,304 deceased employees and retirees. This comprised of 1,722 public (FGN & State) and 582 private sector employees/retirees.”
In its recently amended rules on the processing of benefits under the CPS, PenCom revised the regulation governing the administration of retirement and terminal benefits.
According to the regulation, the legal beneficiary(ies) of the decedent must provide the Pension Fund Administrators with the necessary paperwork, including a completed death notification form, in order to process death benefits.
It was also stated that a letter of administration and a signature verification letter issued by the banker to the legal beneficiary(ies) or estate of the deceased were required, as well as proof of death, which could be any number of documents or a certificate of death issued by PenCom (in cases where the death occurs at home).
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The supporting documents needed are a burial warrant issued by a local government council, proof of death/burial issued by an Islamic community, the head of a Sharia court, or a judge, proof of death issued by a leader of a registered church, copy of an obituary poster (if any), a hospital-issued certificate of cause of death (if the death occurs in a hospital), or a police report (if the death does not result from a natural cause; a letter
In addition to other methods of verification, PenCom requested that the banks terminate the accounts of deceased contributors in order to prevent them from ever operating a bank account in the nation again.
The regulator for the pension business implemented these rules in response to the rising instances of fake deaths being planned in order to withdraw the money in the Retirement Savings Accounts of reported dead employees.
PenCom had earlier said in a circular, “The commission has received a series of complaints from retirees, who alleged that their PFAs have wrongfully paid their benefits to their next of kin or legal beneficiaries, while they were still alive and in active service without their consent.
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“Following these complaints and reports by the PFAs, it has become imperative to issue additional measures to curb these complaints and strengthen the processes and practices of processing and payment of death benefits.”
PenCom ordered the PFAs to contact the employer of the deceased for verification and confirmation of the death of employees.
The pension regulator ordered the PFAs to ensure due diligence and conduct a search at the probate registry of the issuing authority to confirm the genuineness of the documents as well as the verification of the information of the named administrator and sureties.
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