In the year 2022, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) released an applauded guideline for Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to have access to 25% of their pension which can be used for the acquisition of residential mortgage.
This was the talking point for the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) at her 2022 Media Parley held on the 9 of December, 2022 at Lily gate hotel, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
The Head of Media, Branding and Communication of PenOp, Lanre Idris, welcomed everyone present to PenOp’s 2022 Media Parley. In his speech, he said the media parley was an avenue for the industry (operators and the regulator) to engage directly with the media on the various work going on within the industry, create a growing community of champions for the pension industry and commend the media on the great level of work which they do and will do in the coming year(s) as they are critical stakeholders. He emphasized on the need for more education with regards to pension matters by the media.
The Chief Executive Officer of PenOp, Oguche Agudah presented a paper to assure the public that the new policy on home ownership had come to stay. He added that continuous improvision and revision to this policy will be incorporated to favour many Nigerians who regrettably do not have a place they call “their own home”. He further enjoined the media to put in good work to educating the public, making them more aware of the policy and how it works. He also noted that Nigerian mortgage system may currently still have some bit of challenges but will be perfected in due time.
Olumide Oyetan,the president of PenOp, gave his assurance that the implementation of this policy would not only better the lives of partakers but also bring about National impact within the country. He called on all relevant stakeholders to join forces and work together to ensure that this policy is fully implemented.
Umar Mairami,Head of Technical Committee at PenOp, stated that the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) have started partnership with some mortgage banks within the country to ensure that Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders can begin to benefit from the new policy with better rates.
Ibrahim Kangiwa, Head of Investment Department at PenCom said that the mortgage initiative is to improve the standard of living for RSA Holders under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) who must have contributed for five years (60 months) cummulative of employer’s and employee’s mandatory contribution. The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved 34 mortgage banks and this policy would be a turning point for people, especially day-to-day workers in Nigeria.
