The National Pension Commission has said that any worker who registered under the Contributory Pension Scheme before July 1, 2019, must present evidence of compliance with Data Recapture Exercise before he would be allowed to change his pension company.

It said it was important to create awareness as it planned to open the transfer window before the end of the year, which would allow workers to be able to change their Pension Fund Administrators.

The commission said this in a statement on Tuesday titled, ‘National Pension Commission press release notice to Retirement Savings Account holders on the mandatory Data Recapture Exercise.’

“The Commission, therefore, wishes to notify all RSA holders that the completion of the DRE is a prerequisite for processing any RSA transfer request by RSA holders who registered before 1 July 2019,” it stated.

PenCom introduced the DRE in August 2019 in order to obtain complete, accurate and current data of all RSA holders (both active and retired).

Accordingly, it stated, the Pension Fund Administrators were directed by the commission to obtain the relevant information required for the DRE from RSA holders and the process was on-going.

One of the information required for the exercise was the National Identity Number, it said.

The commission said it was desirous to ensure that all RSA holders were able to exercise their rights of transferring their RSAs from one PFA to another, in anticipation of the formal launch of the RSA transfer system during the last quarter of 2020.

It stated, “In order to fast-track the DRE, the commission approved a proposal of the Pension Operators’ Association of Nigeria for an industry Shared Service Initiative.

“Consequently, PenOp has engaged agents to conduct the DRE on behalf of all PFAs.

“This arrangement will enhance efficiency in carrying out the exercise as it would allow an agent to recapture all RSA holders in the same organisation on behalf of all PFAs.”

In partnership with the National Identity Management Commission, it said, the selected agents would have the ability to carry out NIN registrations seamlessly.

“The commission hereby appeals to all active RSA holders and retirees to cooperate with the agents that would be visiting their organisations to carry out the DRE,” it stated.

Meanwhile, the commission said it remained committed to providing necessary support to the pension industry to ensure the success of the DRE.