PenCom Ranks Among Top Three On Transparency Index Conducted For 511 Agencies

The National Pensions Commission (PenCom) has been rated among top three most transparent government agencies in Nigeria, according to a 2022 ranking.

The Transparency and Integrity Index report for 2022 was conducted for 511 MDAs by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch (CeFTIW) and supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

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Among the top three are the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Bank of Industry (BOI) and National Pension Commission (PENCOM).

The DBN scored 58.74 points, while BOI and PenCom scored 48 and 33 respectively.

The worst five performing MDAs are the Tafawa Balewa Square Management Board, Upper Niger River Basin Authority, Veterinary Council of Nigeria, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and Sokoto-Rima River Basin Development Authority.

The 2022 ranking was conducted based on MDAs fiscal transparency, website integrity, open procurement, anti-corruption citizens engagement and human resources and inclusion.

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Under the new PenCom Director General, Aisha Dahir-Umar, the country’s pensions fund assets rose to N14.27trn and registered a total of 9,795,957 million contributors in June 2022

The Commission also introduced human focused innovations like the approval of the use of 25 per cent of workers Retirement Savings Accounts as payment for contribution for residential mortgage.

The pension regulator is also introducing innovations that will hedge pensioners funds against inflation.

The Executive Director of CeFTIW, Mr Umar Yakubu said, “511 MDAs were assessed across six broad variables, and the ranking is aimed at preventing corruption in public office as it centred on procurement, budget, human resources, inclusion and website integrity.

“We used this to check the level of transparency with regards to public finances, especially in procurement; how the MDAs spend their money, generate taxes and recruit people. It also assesses them generally on efficiency.

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“It is on this assessment that we brought out the ranking of 511 institutions which you saw; where some did well and some did not do well. We hope they will engage Nigerians more on their websites; it is a way of preventing corruption.”

Yakubu said the organization has involved anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau to compel defaulting agencies to be accountable.

Yakubu noted, “Those are the things missing, but citizens engagement and social media relationship are very active, but our aim is for the MDAs to give information on procurement and publish their audited reports.

“The centre had already involved the EFCC, ICPC and Code of Conduct Bureau to compel defaulting MDAs to give information on procurement and things concerning their finances.”

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