By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
NATIONAL Pension Commission, PenCom, it is working on a proposal for an amendment of the Pension Reform Act, PRA, 2004, to prosecute abuses by employers is underway.

Director-General, PenCom, Alhaji Mohammed Ahmad, who spoke in Abuja, said the proposal was aimed at ensuring that individuals and employers who defaulted in remittance of pension were punished according to the law.

*A cross section of pensioners at a recent verification exercise

He said “What we want to do as part of this public hearing is to get the National Assembly to amend the Pension Reform Act to make it a criminal offence for non-remittance. This is to provide a legal framework so that individuals/employers that are responsible for non-compliance with the guideline could be prosecuted. We have selected about 50 accountants, lawyers and debt collectors.

They will go to different parts of this country and make sure that any employer that deducts and fails to remit is compelled to do so. At the end of the public hearing, the recognition of payment of pension will come to limelight and those that are responsible for paying pension especially under the old scheme will be held accountable.”

The Director-General reassured contributors to the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS that necessary safeguards had been put in place to guarantee the safety of all pension assets which stood at N2.4 trillion.

He reiterated that the law allowed Pension Funds Administrators, PFAs, to invest pension assets in only those sectors outlined in the investment guidelines to protect contributors, saying “As at today, on a daily basis, PFAs submit details of pension investments to the PENCOM to see how the pension assets are invested. We cross-check to make sure these pension assets are invested in the required assets provided by the investment regulation.”

Ahmad called on contributors to insist on their bank statements and to regularly check their saving accounts through online services provided by their PFAs and report any anomalies to the commission.

“If you don’t get your bank statement insist you should be given a bank statement you can have online access to your account balances with the PFAs to ascertain your balances at any time you so desire. If your salary is being deducted and is not being remitted send a note to the National Pension Commission to inform us about it. I can assure you as an organisation whatever information we get we will treat it in utmost confidentiality”, he added.