DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTERISED TEACHER PENSION VERIFICATION SYSTEM

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTERISED TEACHER PENSION VERIFICATION SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER ONE

Pension Fund management in Nigeria is as old as the country itself. The colonial overlords established a pension fund to offer income and security to old age British citizens working in Nigeria upon retirement as a post-retirement benefit to employees. According to Adesina (2006:7), the Nigeria Legislative instrument on pension problems was the Pension Ordinance of 1951, which took effect on January 1, 1946. The National Provident Fund (NPF) system was founded by law in 1961 to solve pension issues in private enterprises. A pension is a plan that provides people with an income when they are no longer employed on a regular basis. Pensions, on the other hand, should not be confused with severance pay; the former is given in regular payments, whereas the latter is provided in a single lump sum. The terms “retirement plan” or “superannuation” allude to a retirement pension. Employers, insurance firms, the government, and other entities such as employer groups or trade unions may establish retirement programs. Retirement pensions are known as retirement plans in the United States, pension programs in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and pension in Nigeria. Retirement pensions are often in the form of a guaranteed life annuity, which protects against the danger of outliving one’s assets. In general, the phrase pension refers to the payments that a person receives upon retirement, usually under pre-determined legal and/or contractual parameters. A pensioner or retiree is someone who receives a retirement pension. Any plan, fund, or scheme that provides retirement income is referred to as a pension fund.

SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM

The manual technique of pension fund management retains records about each employee/pensioner who is enrolled with a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) in a filing cabinet. When an employee decides to open a retirement savings account with a PFA, the former (pensioner) must go to the PFA’s physical location to collect and fill out a registration form. When the form is returned, the PFA clerk creates a file for the employee in which the completed form and any other vital documents required or related to the employee are preserved. The file is then forwarded to the next PFA personnel to validate the employee’s registration, which may take several days, if not weeks, depending on the circumstances. Except when visiting the PFA’s office, the employee is uninformed of his/her account balance when using the manual technique. As a result, there is no method for the employee to follow financial irregularities in his or her account. The manual process makes it difficult for the PFA to keep an up-to-date list of employees/pensioners. When a person changes jobs or relocates, most likely from one state to another, it takes time for these changes to be reflected in the employee’s record. All of these manual methods have led to issues such as: 1. Fraud and theft in the process of investing pension money and the return on investment 2. Human errors, such as incorrect crediting of a pensioner’s account 3. Material waste, such as paper, files, and so on 4. An insufficient flow of information among PFA staff.PFAs, for example, are unable to provide their customers with precise information about their balance and the expected amount of money they will get if they retire. 5. The worry of having to go to the PFA office. A web-based pension fund administration system is one that manages pension activities on both the consumer and Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) sides. PFAs’ pension management activities include regular updates of customers’ information, crediting of customers’ accounts if the client is retired, and so on, whereas customers’ actions include checking their balance online, making inquiries via email, and so on.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The study’s major goal is to create and implement a staff pension management system. The study’s specific objectives are as follows: 1. Create a safe system for employee information.

2. Create a pension management system in which teachers’ remittances can be made at predetermined intervals.

TERMS DEFINITION

The Joint Tax Board This is an authorized authority that oversees the operations of private sector pension systems.

NITF (Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund) Provide and improve social protection for private-sector workers.

The National Pension Commission (PENCON) is the apex organization of the Nigerian pension industry, regulating and supervising the operations of pension corporations.

The National Insurance Commission (NALCOM) is an autonomous organization in Nigeria that is in charge of licensing and regulating insurance firms.

The Pension Reform Act of 2004 (PRA) was enacted in 2004. This is the body established by the Pension Reform Act of 2004 to oversee all pension-related operations.

Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are Private Limited Liability Companies regulated by the Pension Act of 2004 to handle pension funds.

Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) are banks that have been licensed to hold pension fund assets on behalf of the PFA.

Retirement Savings Account (RSA) This is where employees’ monthly contributions are placed for safekeeping.

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) These are pension fund managers who hold a pension plan license.