Contrary to claims in some quarters that the N18 trillion pension assets might have been squandered by the Pension Fund Managers, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has clarified that the assets are safe, well-invested, and growing in leaps and bounds.
The Director-General of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar made the clarification while addressing the 2024 Congress of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), at the weekend in Abuja.
She noted that “every kobo of the N18 trillion belongs to a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holder, a worker or a retiree. These funds are been consistently invested and the returns are automatically distributed back to the RSA holder except for the little allowable charges for the management and distribution of the pension funds”.
The DG said, the practice in the past where pension funds were diverted into private pockets no longer exists in the present-day management of the funds. Adding, that as a regulator, its primary responsibility is to ensure that these funds are safe, efficient, and effectively managed and that they are available to be paid as retirement benefits as and when due.
Represented by the Head, Corporate Communication, Mr. Ibrahim Buwai, the PenCom boss also disclosed that the Commission recovered a total sum of N45.45 billion unremitted contributions and penalties from employers between 2012 and 2023.
Giving the breakdown, she said, “the principal contributions that were recovered were about N12.9 billion while the penalty was about N12.5 billion”.
According to her, both the penalty and principal recovered from the employers were paid into the individual RSAs. “Nobody takes a penny, not PFAs, not PenCom, nobody. All this money recovered was for RSA holders and it goes into RSA. What you can help us by way of employers is that it is not in their interests not to remit because it is cheaper to remit than not to remit”, she said.
Speaking on the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), she said. there is a need for more enlightenment campaigns for those in the informal sector to embrace the scheme.
He explained that “since the micro pension started, there are about 100,000 RSAs that have been opened and the contribution is just over N500 million. That is to tell you that there is still a long way to go. But what we can do on our part is just to continue to enlighten people, to show them that the micro pension plan recognizes their level of participation. It has been designed to take care of the peculiarity of that sector”, she said.
She, however, commended the FICAN for the positive reportage of the activities of PenCom and pension industry and assured of the consistent support of the management to the media.
“On our part, amidst challenges that exist, we would still see how best we can deepen the partnership. I want to assure you that we are always available, if you have a misconception, if you have any clarification, feel free to contact us, it’s our primary duty to give you that information’’, she said.
