Senators reject lower PenCom DG bar

   .Mark: Rookies can’t manage N2.9tr pension funds.
The Senate yesterday opened debate on a bill to amend the Pension Reform Act, with Senate President David Mark and several others taking a position against lowering of qualification requirements for the post of director general of the National Pension Commission.
Daily Trust had exclusively reported on May 13 that the pension bill proposes reducing the years of experience required for a PenCom director general from a minimum of 20 years to 15 years.
This proposal was interpreted by industry operators and Federal lawmakers to mean lowering the bar for the commission’s acting DG Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu to be confirmed as substantive chief executive, given that she started her working career 15 years ago.
Speaking during a debate on the bill yesterday, the Senate President said reducing the years of experience was not in the interest of the nation and therefore should not be approved.
“That we want to reduce the years of experience of those who will manage it (PenCom) from 20 to 15 years, I think that that is not in the best interest of the nation,” Mark said.
The pension bill, which was submitted to the National Assembly by President Jonathan late in April, had already run into troubled waters in the House of Representatives where some lawmakers said it was tailored to favour an individual.
Yesterday, the Senate President said: “We should look for people who are very experienced in the management of pension…. I don’t understand the rationale for reducing the experience of the DG from 20 to 15 (years). For me it doesn’t make sense at all.”
He added: “I think the problem we have had is that we have all sorts of rookies; people who have no idea about managing funds, not to talk of very huge pension fund go to manage our pension fund. And I think it’s a very specialised area where you cannot just wake up tomorrow morning and be appointed to manage the pension fund. You will mismanage it.”
Mark’s remarks came after Senators Ahmed Makarfi (PDP, Kaduna), Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (ANPP, Yobe), and Mohammed Ali Ndume (PDP, Borno) had expressed opposition to the controversial clause in the bill.
Lawan said the proposal to reduce the years of experience required of PenCom DG should not be allowed to pass. “We need better and more experienced hands when we face challenges, not people who cannot do the work,” he said.
Ndume said: “I strongly oppose the proposal to reduce the years of experience qualification of the PenCom DG from 20 to 15 years.”
Lawal also opposed the proposal to increase percentage of monthly pension contributions to maximum of 8 per cent for employees and 12 per cent for employers, saying it will force employers to pay lower salaries and employ fewer workers.
Speaking on the other aspects of the draft law, Mark said the bill contains important amendments that should be passed in order to safeguard the huge amount of money in the hands of pension fund administrators.
“The national budget is N4.9 trillion and we have money in the pension fund up to N2.9 trillion. So you can imagine the amount of money at the disposal of few individuals who are not properly supervised, who have no training in management, and who just dip their hands into the funds as and when they feel like,” he said.
“I think the essence of this pension reform is to make sure people who are properly trained are put in charge of the pension fund for proper management. There is hardly any pensioner in this country who is not going through hell. He makes all his contribution, when it’s time for him to receive his pension then people don’t recognise him anymore.
“But when he is paying his contribution, he is a very lovely person and everybody is petting him until he retires. When he should now enjoy his pension then the nation forgets him. It is bad and we must do everything possible to make sure that people who have worked and contributed receive their pension on time,” he added.
Earlier, Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba, who introduced the debate on the bill, said the amendment was informed by non-remittance of pension contributions by ministries and agencies, delayed and non-payment of gratuities and pensions to retirees and under payment of retirement benefits. He listed also “corruption, misappropriation and outright embezzlement of pension funds” as among the issues the bill intends to address.
For his part, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu called for amendment of item 44 of the second schedule to constitution under the exclusive legislative list to place labour and pension matters under the concurrent list so as to allow state Houses of Assembly to legislate on pension matters.
Lowering the bar
The present acting DG of PenCom, Mrs Anohu-Amazu, was appointed in controversial circumstances in December, as then-outgoing director general Mohammed Ahmed said in a memo to her that she was due to retire, having served for eight years as company secretary on the level of director.
Industry operators had faulted the bid to lower the PenCom DG bar as contained in the pension bill, saying it portends grave implications for a fast growing industry that controls nearly N3 trillion in just eight years.
When the pension bill came up for second reading in the House of Representatives last week, two lawmakers protested that it was meant to favour the acting DG. This forced the House to postpone debate on the bill, and no new date has been set for that.
Following the debate in the Senate yesterday, the bill went through the second reading stage and was referred to the committee on establishment and public service which is expected to hold public hearings and submit a report in four weeks.




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