The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has reacted to reports that states operating the Contributory Pension Scheme refused to remit about N3.4 billion pension contributions.
Some newspapers had quoted the acting Director-General, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, as saying some states in the federation refused to remit about N3.4bn pension contributions deducted from their workers monthly remunerations into their respective Retirement Savings Accounts with their Pension Fund Administrators.
The reports claimed that the PenCom DG stated this during the second quarter consultative forum for states in Lagos on Wednesday.
But in a phone interview with THE WHISTLER, Dahir-Umar described the reports as “not true,” adding that despite efforts to correct the false reports, the newspapers which carried the reports insisted on “being mischievous”
“The states have remitted but the remittances have not been credited due to many reasons. So it’s not about remittance. We spent the whole day calling the media. They are being mischievous.”
She further explained: “Unremitted means the money is with the employer (Government). Uncredited means the employer had remitted their money to operators but the RSAs have not been credited. The latter is the correct position.”
According to her, the states have remitted the funds but the operators don’t have enough information to credit the RSA’s, which she said has been an issue that the commission is strongly tackling.
“We have a detailed analysis of how much has not been credited in each of the states. The PFAs and the states are discussing the causes and the solutions to the problem.
“Some of the reasons are remittances made without avoiding schedules, remittances for employees without RSA PINs, remittances without employer codes, e-payments, etc.
“We have agreed that reconciliation committees should be set up in each state to find solutions to all these and report outcome at the next meeting.
She stressed that the case here should not be likened to corruption as the operators would require the aforementioned information to enable them credit retirement accounts.
https://thewhistler.ng/pencom-debunks-reports-of-non-remittance-of-3-4bn-pension-funds-by-states/