PenCom
GUIDANCE NOTE ON THE PAYMENT OF RETIREMENT
BENEFITS TO PROFESSORS COVERED UNDER THE
UNIVERSITIES MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
AMENDMENT ACT (UMPAA) 2012 BY VIRTUE OF THEIR
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT TO RETIRE
WITH FULL BENEFITS
www.pencom.gov.ng
National Pension Commission
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................1
1.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................3
2.0 OBJECTIVES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
3.0 ELIGIBILITY
………………………………………………………………………………….3Error! Bookmark not
defined.
4.0 DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS……………………………………………………………………………………….3
5.0 PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING……………………………………………………………………………….4
6.0 ENQUIRIES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
National Pension Commission
GUIDANCE NOTE TO PENSION FUND ADMI NISTRATORS ON THE PAYMENT OF PROFESSORS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 The Commission developed the Programmed Withdrawal Template for
Professors (PWTP) to compute retirement benefits that would provide
monthly pensions equivalent to 100% of the Professors’ last salary and a
lump sum equivalent to 25% of the Retirement Savings Account (RSA)
balances.
1.2 The PWTP was designed for the category of Professors covered by the
Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act (UMPAA), 2012,
which is in tandem with the provision of Section 6 (2) of the Pension Reform
Act (PRA) 2014, which provides that the Commission shall issue guidelines
on regulating the administration of retirement benefits of Professors covered
by the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Amendment Act (UMPAA) 2012
by virtue of their terms and conditions of employment, to retire with full
benefits provided that any shortfall shall be funded from budgetary
allocations by the employer.
1.3 This Guidance Note seeks to provide Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs)
with a standard procedure for calculating retirement benefits such as lump
sum and monthly pensions, using age, gender, final salary and the RSA
balance for the eligible professors.
2.0 Objectives of the Guidance Note
2.1 To establish a uniform set of rules for adherence by the PFA regarding the
computation of Professors' retirement benefits equivalent to 100% of their
last salary.
National Pension Commission
GUIDANCE NOTE TO PENSION FUND ADMI NISTRATORS ON THE PAYMENT OF PROFESSORS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
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2.2 To also provide the procedure for treating and addressing issues related to
Professors' retirement benefits.
3.0 Eligibility Criteria for the Payment of 100% of the Last Annual Total
Emolument (ATE) to Professors
3.1 Section 2.1 of the Guidelines for the Administration of Retirement Benefits
of Professors, Heads of Service, and Permanent Secretaries (the
Guidelines) stipulates the eligibility criteria for Professors who would be
entitled to receive a pension at a rate equivalent to their annual salary upon
retirement as follows:
i. Such a Professor shall be an academic staff member who retires as a
Professor after serving continuously up to the retirement age of 70
years in a university recognised by the National Universities
Commission (NUC).
ii. Such a Professor shall have served at least 20 years as a Professor
in a University recognised by the National Universities Commission
and retired before attaining the age of 70 years.
4.0 Documentation Requirements for the Processing of the Professors'
Retirement Benefits:
4.1 PFAs shall ensure the submission of the under-list documents from each
retiree:
i. Valid means of identification, which shall be any of the following:
a) Driver’s License
National Pension Commission
GUIDANCE NOTE TO PENSION FUND ADMI NISTRATORS ON THE PAYMENT OF PROFESSORS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
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b) International Passport
c) National Identification Number (NIN) slip; or
d) True certified copy of any of a -c duly stamped by Notary Public
ii. Official notice/acceptance of retirement from the employer
iii. Birth Certificate or Age Declaration affidavit.
iv. Last three (3) pay slips or any other evidence of ATE
v. Enrolment slip (for employees of FGN Treasury-Funded MDAs)
vi. Introduction letter stating the retiree was an academic staff member
who retired as a Professor after serving continuously up to the
retirement age of 70 years in a university recognised by the National
Universities Commission (NUC) or who served a minimum of 20 years
as a Professor in a University recognised by the NUC and retired
before attaining the age of 70.
5.0 Procedures for the Computation of the Professors' Retirement
Benefits:
i. PFAs shall compute the monthly pension/annuity and lump sum from
the retiree’s RSA balance using the PWTP issued by the Commission.
ii. The monthly pension/annuity shall be at least 100% of the final salary
based on the (ATE) as of the retirement date and a lump sum
National Pension Commission
GUIDANCE NOTE TO PENSION FUND ADMI NISTRATORS ON THE PAYMENT OF PROFESSORS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
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equivalent to at least 25% of the RSA balances, taking cognisant of
pension arrears (if any).
iii. Retirees of Federal and State Government universities shall be
eligible for a maximum of 24 months of pension arrears if the period
between the date of retirement and the date of consolidation exceeds
24 months. For retirees from the private sector, pension arrears shall
be for no more than six (6) months.
iv. Without prejudice to (ii) above, where the RSA balance cannot provide
100% of the retiree’s ATE as a monthly pension, the PFA shall
determine the shortfall amounts required to provide the monthly
pensions equivalent to 100% of the final salary, which shall be funded
by the employers.
v. PFAs shall forward to the Commission’s Contributions and Bond
Redemption Department the amounts determined as the shortfall of
the monthly pension equivalent of 100% for eligible Professors from
Federal Universities.
vi. For eligible professors in the private sector and state universities,
PFAs shall forward shortfall amounts to the University Governing
Councils.
vii. The University Governing Councils shall remit the shortfall amounts
directly to the RSAs of the affected professors.
viii. If the balance in the RSAs of the eligible professors who retired from
the Federal, State and Private Universities cannot provide 100% of
National Pension Commission
GUIDANCE NOTE TO PENSION FUND ADMI NISTRATORS ON THE PAYMENT OF PROFESSORS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
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the last salary required to provide a pension or annuity for life due to
the employer’s defaults in the remittance of the shortfall after a
professor's retirement. The retiree shall be allowed to access the
monthly pension/annuity and lump sum based on PWTP computation
after 30 working days from the date the PFAs notified the University
Governing Council of the shortfall amounts.
ix. PFAs shall pay the amounts determined as underpayment that may
arise thereof and pay the professors in the form of pension arrears
upon eventual remittance of the shortfall by the employers.
x. If the balance in the RSA runs out while the Professor is still alive, the
employer shall bear the payment of the full monthly pension of the
retiree, as provided by the provisions of Section 6 (2) of the PRA 2014.
xi. Processing and submission of the request for the Professors'
retirement benefits shall be in line with the provisions of the
Regulation for the Administration of Retirement and Terminal
Benefits.
6.0 ENQUIRIES
All enquiries regarding this Guidance Note shall be directed to:
The Director General
National Pension Commission
174, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent
Wuse II Abuja- Nigeria
National Pension Commission
GUIDANCE NOTE TO PENSION FUND ADMI NISTRATORS ON THE PAYMENT OF PROFESSORS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
