The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has commended the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, for his commitment to setup an effective and seamless pension scheme that will outlive his tenure as the State Governor. PENCOM gave the commendation on Tuesday, 3rd December, at the Umuehim Nvosi country home of the Governor when the DG of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Bridget-Oloworaran led some top officials of the Commission on a working visit to the Governor.

During the visit, Ms. Bridget-Oloworaran commended the Governor for clearing the backlog of pension arrears that he met on assumption of office and signing the Abia State reform Pension Law 2024 passed by the State House of Assembly.

In her words “I am happy with the steps that Abia State has taken in passing the State Pension Reform Law 2024″.

Your Excellency, I want to thank you for these great steps (1) signing the law and (2) your commitment to wanting the CPS (Contributory Pension Scheme) to stay not just during your tenure but long after you have gone.

“Abia State is poised to become a mother of sustainable development for employee’s welfare and I believe setting an example across the whole South East because as at today, there is no State in the South East that is fully compliant under the Contributory Pension Scheme. If Abia State moves fast, you be able to set an Example across the whole of the South East region and I dare say across the country in terms of some of the controls that you have put in place to ensure that this scheme not only survives your own tenure”.

She said that the Abia State pension Law was thoroughly worked on. She pointed out some areas that the State Government needed to look into towards establishing an effective and seamless pension scheme among which are employees’ Biometric verification, working with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to open or generate codes for employers, constituting the Pension Board, remittance of contributions to the CPS and including Pensioners in Health Insurance among others.