Pencom, EFCC Strategize To Tackle Fraud In Pension Industry

The National Pension Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are currently collaborating in tackling the challenges associated with fraudulent activities in the pension industry.

Speaking at a sensitisation programme on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General of PenCom,
Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the collaboration would help in eradicating the menace in a proactive manner.

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She said the sensitisation programme was vital as it would create the synergy needed to boost the efforts of the two organizations in the discharge of their respective statutory mandates relating to the issue of fraud.

The PenCom DG recalled that the problems of fraud and mismanagement in the pension sector in Nigeria were among the reasons that necessitated the pension reform of 2004 by the Federal Government.

According to her, the Pension Reform Act 2004, which was later reviewed and re-enacted in 2014, introduced legal and institutional frameworks aimed at addressing the rot that characterized the administration of pensions in the pre-reform era.

Dahir-Umar noted that the Act also established PenCom to regulate and supervise all pension matters in Nigeria, including the licensing of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).

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She explained further that the Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate (PTAD) was also established by the PRA 2014 to administer, in a transparent manner, the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) for pensioners exempted from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

These measures, she noted, substantially restored credibility and confidence in Nigeria’s pension systems, thereby making the industry to currently accumulate pension assets in excess of N13trn that are invested in various aspects of the economy and still growing.

She said, “Pursuant to its statutory mandate under Section 23(f) of the PRA 2014, PenCom has consistently undertaken public education, enlightenment and awareness campaigns on the CPS and other pension matters.

“It has also developed and established structures, systems and procedures that ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the administration of pension in Nigeria.

“These systems and procedures have become reference points for other African countries, many of whom have undertaken study visits to the Commission.

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“However, as it is the case with every human endeavour, retrogressive elements continued to exploit procedural gaps in the operations of pension practitioners in both the CPS and DBS to the detriment of unsuspecting public.

“Thus, new issues and challenges continue to emerge, which place special responsibility on the regulators, the operators and other stakeholders to constantly review their operating environment with a view to finding solutions to address the problems.

“Happily, the PRA 2014 had strengthened Nigeria’s pension institutions in both the Contributory and Defined Benefits Schemes, and imbued them with the capacity to rise above emerging challenges.

“Thus, the continued collaboration with the EFCC would certainly serve as catalyst for reducing the menace of fraud inthe pension industry to the barest minimum.”

The PenCom DG explained further that the uniqueness of the workshop will literally take the collaboration between both agencies to the next level.

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