P e n C o m D G . . .N/Assembly c’ttee removes ‘years of experience’

The Joint National Assembly Committees on Pension and Establishment Matters has lowered the bar set in the Pension Act for the appointment of Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).A joint report submitted yesterday to both houses of the National Assembly, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Trust, deleted the 20-year requirement […]

The Joint National Assembly Committees on Pension and Establishment Matters has lowered the bar set in the Pension Act for the appointment of Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
A joint report submitted yesterday to both houses of the National Assembly, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Trust, deleted the 20-year requirement as a prerequisite for appointment to the office of DG PenCom.
The joint committee led by Senator Aloysius Etok (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Rep. Ibrahim Bawa Kamba (PDP, Kebbi) instead  recommended that a person to be appointed to the office of should be a ‘fit and proper person with adequate cognate experience in pension matters’.
If the bill is enacted into law, it will pave the way for PenCom’s acting director general Chinelo Anohu-Amazu to be confirmed as substantive chief executive.
The existing Pension Reform Act 2004, Section 16 provides that the commission’s DG must“possess professional skill and with not less than 20 years cognate experience relating to pension matters and or insurance, Actuarial Science or other related field.”
The bill submitted to the National Assembly by President Jonathan in April sought to replace this provision under a new Section 26 Sub-section 2(d) which lowered the cognate experience to15 years.
However, the Joint National Assembly committee took it further down by recommending the total removal of years of experience any requirement for appointment of a DG, board chairman and commissioners, as according to them even the position sought by President Jonathan “is over bloated and unnecessary.”
“The executive recommendation of 20 and 15 years for the Chairman, the Director General and Commissioners of the Board of PenCom respectively, is over bloated and unnecessary,” the report read in part.
“The Joint Committee hence decided to de-emphasize the issue of years of experience for PenCom Board membership and to recommend that ‘persons to be appointed to the office of the Chairman of the Board of PENCOM, the DG and Commissioners shall be fit and proper persons with adequate cognate experience in pension matters.”
The panel said cognate experience on pension matters shall be the guiding policy in all nominations, hence, a recommendation for just a fit and proper person with adequate cognate experience on pension matters for both the DG and the Commissioners suffices.
The committee’s recommendation came in spite of opposition earlier expressed by several senators and members of the House of Representatives including Senate President David Mark.
The pension bill had caused rumpus in the legislature after Daily Trust exclusively reported on May 13 that it contains a clause that seeks to lower the bar in order to pave way for Anohu-Amazu to be confirmed as substantive DG.
Mrs. Anohu-Amazu started her working career in 1998, meaning her years of experience fell short of the requirement by five years. She was appointed acting DG in December 2012 and therefore fell short of the existing requirements under the 2004 law.
Her appointment as acting DG had sparked crisis at PenCom given that she was due to retire at the time, having served for eight years as company secretary on the level of director.
But she weathered that storm, and now seems to be on her way to being appointed substantive DG if the new bill is enacted into law.
During the second reading of the bill on May 28, Senate President Mark had said it was wrong to reduce the qualification requirements because this would not be in the national interest. Several other senators also spoke along similar lines.
‘It portends grave implications’
Industry operators and Federal lawmakers who spoke to Daily Trust faulted the bid to lower the bar, saying it portends grave implications for a fast growing industry that controls N3 trillion in just eight years.
At present, PenCom regulations fix qualification for managing directors and executive directors of pension fund administrators (PFAs) at a minimum of 18 years’cognate experience, while heads of key departments at PFAs must have at least 10 years’ experience.
“If you lower the bar for PenCom DG obviously you have to reduce the requirements for heads of PFAs. It means you can even appoint a fresher as head of department in a PFA,” one expert said.
“This is dangerous for the pension industry. This is an industry that controls the funds of retirees; that controls the future basically for those people.
“That is why the law has those strict requirements—to protect the funds of the retired. This bill will lower standards in the pension industry and will, in effect, put the future of people in jeopardy. Then there is also the moral question: How can you do a law just to favour one person?”