AN EVALUATION OF THE NIGERIAN PENSION SCHEME WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MILITARY PENSION PLAN
AN EVALUATION OF THE NIGERIAN PENSION SCHEME WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MILITARY PENSION PLAN
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Date
2007-12
Authors
MAUDE, Aminun-Kano
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
In recent years, the plight of pensioners, especially former military
personnel, has dominated the headlines, prompting the authority in Nigeria to
undertake a reform of the country’s pension system. The aim of this research
work is therefore, to evaluate the causes of the failure of the defined benefit
pension scheme in Nigeria and to recommend measures that will ensure the
success of the newly introduced defined contribution pension scheme. To
achieve these objectives the research reviewed literature on pension,
underscoring the merits of pension reforms commonly associated with a switch
from a defined-benefit (DB) to a defined contribution (DC) pension system.
We also used data from a cross section of 360 both former and serving staffs of
the Nigerian military service to gauge the extent of their satisfaction with the
DB scheme. Using F-tests obtained from the one-way analysis of variance,
hypotheses were tested.
The main results emanating form the study can be grouped into a couple
of categories. One, our results show that the defined benefit pension scheme
suffered from a glaring lack of commitment by the military pension authority to
ensure efficient service delivery to the pensioners. According to the findings of
this research, lack of commitment of the authority is manifested in a number of
ways, such as poor administration manifested in over-centralization of the
pension agency, with a poorly administered organ being responsible for
pensioners nationwide. Our results also show that Nigeria’s defined benefit
scheme suffered from not only inadequate funding but also from flagrant
refusal of the military to subject their operations to regular audit, an important
requirement for transparency and sound governance.
Our main policy conclusion is that while the reforms of the country’s
pension is in order and laudable, lessons from this research suggest that
adequate cares should be taken to ensure that the relevant military pension
authorities stick to the requirement of regular audit, and avail themselves of the
opportunities offered by modern information and communication systems that
allow for computerization of pension records for efficiency, transparency and
effective management.
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, AHMADU BELLO
UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ACCOUNTING AND
FINANCE
Keywords
EVALUATION,, NIGERIAN,, PENSION,, SCHEME,, SPECIAL,, REFERENCE,, MILITARY,, PENSION,, PLAN