The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says it has paid N326.32 billion as retirement benefits in 2021.

This was disclosed via the commission’s 2021 annual report, a copy of which was obtained on Wednesday.

PenCom stated that the payments comprised retirement benefits and a 25 per cent payout due to temporary loss of job.

It noted that pension contributions credited into the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) of public sector employees from inception grew from N3.43 billion on December 31, 2020, to N3.93 billion as of December 31, 2021.

According to the PenCom report, the public sector employers – federal, state and local governments contributed N492.43 billion as pension during the year under review.

It said the figure represented an 8.29 per cent decline (year-on-year) when compared with the N536.97 billion recorded in 2020.

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The commission added that the cumulative pension contribution received from the private sector from inception to December 31, 2021 rose from N3.27 billion recorded in 2020 to N3.66 billion.

PenCom stated that the pension contribution credited into the RSAs of private sector employees increased slightly by 4.61 per cent from N371.12 billion in 2020 to N388.23 billion as of December 31, 2021.

According to the commission, total pension contributions remitted into the RSAs of employees dropped to N880.66 billion at the end of 2021.

PenCom said the figure represented a 3 per cent decline compared to the N908.09 billion recorded during the corresponding period in 2020.

“The total pension contributions remitted into the RSAs of employees in both the public and private sectors in 2021 decreased slightly from N908.09 billion recorded in 2020 to N880.66 billion as of December 31, 2021.

“This indicated a 3.02 per cent decline over the reporting period,” the report said.

The Star