NASS staff battle management over pension fund

Over 3000 staff of the National Assembly are battling the legislature service commission over the stoppage of their monthly contributions to fund administrators approved by National Pension Commission (PENCOM).

The staff, under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of National Assembly (PASAN), are protesting the stoppage despite the deductions from their salaries.

Investigation by NEXT, confirmed that the management stopped remitting the pension contributions early in the year without the knowledge of the staff.

It was also learnt that before it was finally stopped, the management were only remitting half of each worker’s monthly deductions to the fund administrators, raising posers as to the whereabouts of the remaining half -which runs into millions of naira.

The contributory pension scheme was introduced by the administration of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, to address the problems associated with the payment of pension to retired staff, both in the private and public sectors.

The scheme is “contributory, fully funded, and in private third party custody of funds and assets managers who manages each individual worker’s accounts. The scheme ensures that everyone who has worked receives his/her retirement benefits as and when due.”

The stoppage of remittances by the NASS service commission has raised questions as to what would happen to the workers, both junior and senior, after retirement from service.

It was gathered that officials of PASAN has approached the National Assembly’s Director of Finance and Accounts, Lasisi Bukoye over the issue but met a stone wall.

Chairman of PASAN, National Assembly chapter, Rawlings Agada confirmed in a telephone interview on Wednesday that the staff PENCOM contributions have not been remitted to pension fund custodians.

He said he was informed that the directive came from government and that other parastatals were equally affected.

Mr. Agada refused to be drawn into disclosing the outcome of his union’s meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly.

A source however told NEXT that the staff are not comfortable with the development; not only because it would affect their pensions in future, but also because some of the top management officials will soon retire from service.

“Our future is being toyed with because by the time we retire what we are saving would have been depleted,” the source said. “But what is more worrisome is that some of the top management staff who are linked with this matter will soon retire. For instance, the Clerk to the National Assembly is leaving before the end of the year and by the time he goes, nobody knows what will happen. So, we want to do is to address this matter before the Clerk leaves in October.”

Attempts by NEXT to speak with Mr. Bukoye on the issue was not successful.

When we visited his office, he was said to be in a meeting somewhere in the National Assembly complex. A subsequent visit did not produce any result as he was said to be “unavailable.” When contacted on phone last Wednesday, the National Assembly’s Director of Information, Monima Daminabo promised to get back to us after confirming from relevant officers. Mr Daminabo, however, never did. He did not pick his call when we called him last Thursday.

Commission refuses to act

Interestingly, the pension commission itself has not acted on the matter.

At the Maitama, Abuja headquarters of PENCOM, several attempts to speak with the officials on the issue were equally rebuffed.

The officials refused to speak, but instead handed us a copy of the PENCOM Act 2004 and another document titled “Frequently Asked Questions and Their Answers on the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria.” The 20-page document, prepared in August 2005, contains 79 questions and their answers on the monthly pension contributions.

The commission is empowered to punish fund administrators and corporate bodies that violate the provisions of the Act.

For instance, section 91 (1) of the Act says an offence under the Act shall be tried in the Federal High Court It also says that “Prosecution for offences under this Act shall be instituted before the Court in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Attorney General of the Federation or such officer in the Federal Ministry of Justice as he may authorise so to do and in addition thereto and without prejudice to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.”

GLANCEBOX

The PENCOM Law Sections 2 of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 listed the objectives of the scheme as -to ensure that every person who worked in either the public service of the federation, the Federal Capital Territory and the private sector receives his retirement benefits as and when due;

-assist improvident individuals by ensuring that they save in order to cater for livelihood during old age;

-establish a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for the administration and payments of retirements benefits for the public service of the federation, Federal Capital Territory and the Private sector.

Also, Section 14 of the Act provides for the establishment of National Pension Commission which has powers, among others to “approve, license, regulate and supervise pension fund administrators, custodians and other institutions relating to pension matters as the commission may from time to time determine.”

The administrators shall in turn “ensure that the pension fund is at all times managed or held in accordance with the provisions of this Act any regulation or guidelines made hereunder and any direction given by the commission”; and also “take reasonable care to ensure that the management or safe keeping of the pension funds is carried out in the best interests of the employees.”