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By Nasir Kura
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja launched the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) by the National Pension Commission which targets workers in the informal sector of the country’s economy and employees of organisations with less than three staff.
The Micro Pension Plan is expected to mobilise about N3 trillion savings from the informal sector into the N8.6 trillion pension assets in the country.
The president personally registered Sagir Shawa, a Keke NAPEP operator in Karu area of Abuja, for the scheme.
He said the initiative is designed to capture those not fully captured in the existing pension scheme.
“In the past we provided loans to farmers, the MPP is the natural next step,” he said.
He urged trade unions and associations and non-governmental organisation in the informal sector to join hands with the government in enlightening their members to embrace the scheme.
The president said the federal government was committed to addressing all pension-related issues and challenges inherited from previous administration.
Also speaking, acting Director-General of National Pension Commission Hajiya Aisha Dahir-Umar said the micro pension scheme was part of the initiative to bring financial inclusion to all working Nigerians.
She said the informal sector has an estimated 69 million workforce in the country and represents an estimated 88 per cent of Nigerian workers that lack pensions and safety nets for their old age.
She said the goal of the commission is to achieve coverage of 30 million people in the informal sector by 2024.
