PENCOM sanctions 3,660 employers for violating PRA
…charges 185 others to court
NO fewer than three thousand, six hundred and sixty employers have been sanctioned through the imposition of monetary penalty by the National Pension Commission, PENCOM for violating the provisions of Pension Reform Act, PRA of 2004.

Director-General of PENCOM, Alhaji Mohammed. K Ahmad, who disclosed this at an interactive meeting with leaders of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, announced also that while 185 other employers have been taken to court for similar offence, 7, 134 issued warning letters and 292 others  were issued public censure.

Though he did not give the names of the affected employers, the DG said as at September 30, the total pension had hit N1.836 Trillion and the commission had developed guidelines on of the pension assets “which are clear and prudent, ensure sustainable benefits to contributor, secure safety and security of funds as well as ensure adequate liquidity to pay pension benefits as and when due.”
NLC warns against withdrawal of military

Speaking, President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar,  warned against attempt to remove the military from the coverage of the contributory pension scheme, would create a major crisis that would be difficult to manage, saying it would lead to other sector agitating to pull out among other things.

At the opening ceremony of an interactive session  between labour leaders and the National Pension Commission, PENCOM, NLC argued that such move  as being canvassed in the House of Representatives, would not only a disservice to the objectives of the Pension Reform Act of 2004, but would question the integrity of the scheme.

According to him: “We also wish to draw attention to a disturbing trend that is emerging within the pension sector. This is is the ongoing agitation for the removal of the military personnel from the contributory pension secheme in a country that is still challenged by the absence of social security system, depleting the area of coverage of the pension scheme would amount to a great disservice to the vision of the Act.”

Collaborating, General Secretary of NLC, Comrade John Odah, warned that the danger in removing the military was that others like the police, the customs and other para-military establishments as well as the private sector workers who believe they were forced into the scheme would also want to pull out.

He argued that there was nothing wrong if the government decided to fully fund both its share and the military personnel ‘share, but removing the military out of the scheme was a great danger to the scheme.
Also, Comrade Omar, accused state government of violating the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2004, noting that such violation could lead to industrial unrest if not addressed.

The NLC President argued that the continued violation of PRA by the State government was a threat to the success of the contributory pension and called on PENCOM to intervene before it got out of hand.

Addressing the participants, President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, said the aspect mostly violated was the right of workers to freely choose their Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs , stressing that it could lead to industrial unrest if not urgently addressed.