Abstract

The Pension Reform Act 2004 benefited immensely from the robust debates and collective wisdom of many Nigerians of all works of life. This assisted in building wide range consensus on the key elements of the reform. The Pension Reform Act 2004 was enacted after a thorough review of all existing laws relating to pension in Nigeria which caused many problems. The new Pension Act has established both natural and legal personalities and institutions charged with various functions. This is to ensure that the pension reforms as stipulated in the Act meet the desired objectives from entry to exit of any employee in both public and private sectors. Several committees comprising various stakeholders were constituted to carefully examine and propose comprehensive and efficient strategies that would fundamentally address the problems of the pension scheme in the country. Extensive consultations through seminars and conferences were held with key stakeholders. The result was that they were all unanimous in their call for a contributory pension scheme. Apparently the immediate impact of the new scheme is to assuage the suffering of the retirees and to create happiness and relief of their lives. On the other hand, the new scheme will, essentially, promote economic development through investment of the huge pension funds and assets