Public opinion poll on the proposed amendment to the Pension Reform Act 2014 and related matters is streaming in the public domain and views of adults from the age of 18 years to the oldest retiree is required.
The National Assembly is proposing to amend the Pension Reform Act 2014 to allow workers to be able to have access to 50% of the savings in the Retirement Savings Account before a worker reaches 50 years.
The existing law provides for the attainment of 50 years of age before workers can access 50% of the retirement savings, and has been a contentious issue with several agitations demanding for review of the provision to scale it up from present 25% for workers below 50 years to 50%. besides, the template for calculating the 25% does not make it automatic if certain conditions have not been met.
The proposed amendment seeks to remove the age limit to allow workers access their retirement savings any time. A public opinion poll created by American University of Nigeria, is seeking to know if removing the age limit is appropriate.
As part of the poll interest, it is seeking to know if it would be important to stipulate an age limit to check the volume of withdrawals, and what age should be suggested, ranging from 35 years to 55 years at five years intervals.
Another provision in the amendment seeks to make the contributions of every employer to the Retirement Savings Account of its employees a first line charge on the fund or asset of the private employer.
On the 50% access proposed, the poll wants to know if the analysts fear that if there is no restriction to what the 50% access should be used for, many beneficiaries would want to have access to it once, thus creating liquidity crisis in the financial system.
Consequently, the poll wants the public to share their views on this statement: Access to 50% of the funds would create liquidity pressure on financial markets. It also seeks public opinion on how it matters to workers not minding the impact of the access to the financial system: Access to 50% of the funds would improve the welfare of workers and that is what matters the most.
