House probe and PenCom’s cheap blackmail

It is no longer news that in November 2018, the House of Representatives instituted the probe of alleged illegalities and financial improprieties by the Acting Director-General (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). The probe is sequel to a motion by Hon. Benjamin Wayo (APC, Benue), in November 2018. Among others, the House of Representatives […]

It is no longer news that in November 2018, the House of Representatives instituted the probe of alleged illegalities and financial improprieties by the Acting Director-General (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). The probe is sequel to a motion by Hon. Benjamin Wayo (APC, Benue), in November 2018.

Among others, the House of Representatives is investigating the Acting DG over alleged financial malfeasance and unremitted N33 billion pension fund running as well as the 300 percent increase in exit/retirement benefits for herself and some senior staff and paying same to herself even while in service.

Section 25 (2) (b) of PRA 2014 provides that PenCom Board shall also have power to “fix the remuneration, allowances and benefits of the employees of the Commission”. Instructively, PenCom has no Board since 2015 and Exco since April 2017. So who gave the approvals?

The House was further irked by the suspension, since May 2017, of the assumption of duty by 43 staff duly recruited by the last PenCom Exco, leading to the death in 2018 of one Mustapha Ajiya, who resigned his previous appointment preparatory to resuming at PenCom in May 2017 after his receiving an appointment letter.

First, she claimed it was about office accommodation for the recruits. Next, she claimed the previous management did not get the final approval from the Federal Character Commission (FCC) before issuance of appointment letters. But spokesperson of FCC, Mr. Abdullahi Idris, told a national daily (Daily Trust, 5th September 2018) that “The FCC had no reason to order the cancellation of a legitimate recruitment process; FCC frowns at organisations, who after being duly issued with Certificate of Compliance will turn around to cancel same without genuine reason”.

Then at the ongoing hearing, she claimed she acted on the strength of a letter by the Chairman of the House Committee on Federal Character, Hon. Idris Ahmed. Members of the panel have wondered how that could be, and reminded PenCom that the remunerations of the recruits would still be running from May 2017 since PenCom could not unlawfully truncate a lawfully concluded recruitment.

Unfortunately, the probe has not moved smoothly because the House Probe Panel headed by Hon. Johnson Agbonayinmam (APC, Edo), has been having running battle with PenCom and its Acting DG, Mrs. Umar-Dahiru over lack of cooperation, conflicting information, and refusal to submit critical documents to the panel.

Curiously, after months of playing hide and seek, hoping the 8th National Assembly expires soon, the agency sacked the daughter of the Chairman of the Reps probe panel, for allegedly working at PenCom with forged certificate. I have no problem with that if she truly possessed a forged certificate. It is the right thing agencies should do. They should, in fact, fish out others like her and met out the full weight of the law, unlike the case of Kemi Adeosun, who was virtually given a red carpet to London.

However, Mrs. Aisha Dahiru-Umar shows a desperation to ensure that the probe is not completed before the expiration of the 8th NASS by going a step further to write the Speaker of the House of Representatives, claiming PenCom had lost confidence that Agbonayinma would be fair to them, having sacked his daughter.

The nagging questions are: What has the sack of Agbonayinmam’s daughter got to do with the real issues? Besides, the probe had gone on for months before the sack. Is it not possible PenCom she was sacked because Agbonayinma refused to succumb to blackmail? After all, his daughter has been employed there for so many years. Even if the previous management protected her, the Acting DG has been heading PenCom for two full years. How come it is just now she remembered the lady holds forged certificates?

Contrary to what PenCom wants us to believe, Agbonayinma’s insistence that the daughter must face the law if found wanting, adds to his integrity. An average Nigerian politician would have chickened out to protect his “image”, allowing whatever alleged looting and illegalities at PenCom to continue.

The nation has always been inundated with claims that lawmakers demanded graitifations in the course of probes and oversight functions. But here is a man being maligned not for any such thing or any other sin of his own, but by alleged sin of his daughter full-fledged and married adult daughter, who is old enough to answer for any alleged crime. The claims that Agbonayinma is taking the probe

What has all the distraction got to do with PenCom and Aisha simply submitting documents demanded by the panel to prove there were no infractions in the running of the funds and affairs of PenCom? What is personal in requesting Aisha Dahir-Umar to submit Board approvals for the increase of 300 percent exit benefit for herself? What is personal in the investigative panel’s demand for the financial details of PenCom (including bank statements), evidences of purportedly executed contracts, evidences of the actual embankment of local and foreign trips by the Acting DG for which millions of naira were paid in tickets, allowances, and Estacodes?

What is personal in asking for evidences of remittances by PenCom of N33 billion pension fund? The Acting DG testified under oath that PenCom had only one account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while her representative to the last hearing (Lana Oloyemi, Head of Contributions and Remittance) said it was three. Pressed further, he said it was two until Hon. Wale Oke, who is not a member of the panel came to his rescue and he claimed he didn’t know. But the CBN clarified that PenCom has five accounts with them. So, what do you call that? Incompetence, mischief or cover-up?

Also, Mrs. Aisha claimed she had board approval of the 300 percent hike in exit allowance, but ended up submitting the minutes of meeting of herself and the GMs. How does that suffice for Board approval, especially when PenCom has been without Board since 2015 and without EXCO since 2017?

PenCom’s attitude has been rightly described by millions of Nigerians on the social media as recourse to time buying, subterfuge, and cheap blackmail. Such attitude poses grave danger to our democracy and quest for national development. It must not be tolerated. It is the life savings of Nigerian workers we are taking about here. Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar should face the real issues and submit the requested documents to prove her innocence. Period.

Suleiman Magaji wrote from Abuja