SENATE APPROVES BILL TO EASE RETIREES ACCESS TO PENSION FUNDS

The Senate has passed for second reading, the Pension Reform Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to make funds in the Retirement Savings Account under the Contributory Pension Scheme more easily accessible to retirees.

Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, a lawmaker, Aliyu Wamakko, decried the inability of pensioners to access their benefits after service, which he said had resulted in their suffering and, in most cases, led to eventual and untimely deaths.

Wamakko said the proposed amendments to the Pension Reform Act 2014 seek to provide succour to retirees in the delay and other difficulties they stumble upon in withdrawing their savings from their retirement savings accounts.
However, president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan referred the bill to the Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters after scaling the second reading and gave the committee four weeks to report back to the Senate.