Pension: PenCom Recovers N24.5bn From 34 Defaulting Employers

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed that it recovered a total of N24,533,339,305.09 billion comprising of principal contributions and (N12,440,682,240.91) and penalties (N12,092,657,064.18) from defaulting employers who failed to remit pension deductions of their employees into their retirement savings accounts.

The amount was recovered from the commencement of the recovery exercise in June 2012 to March 31, 2023.

A detail of the figures that were released by PenCom on Thursday showed that the sum of N384,280,651.48 million was recovered from the recalcitrant employers within the first of 2023, comprising principal contributions (N193,058,483.56) and penalties (N191,222,167.92). The amount was recovered from 34 defaulting employers.

The commission made the disclosure on Thursday at the 2023 journalists’ conference in Abuja with the theme “Transforming Service Delivery in the Pension Industry: Strategies for Improving Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction.”

In her welcome address, director-general of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, said PenCom’s proactive regulatory approach has strengthened the oversight and governance of pension funds, promoting transparency, accountability and safeguarding the interests of pension contributors.

According to her, pension assets have risen by N1.77 trillion in the first half of 2023, from N14.99 trillion in December 2022 to N16.76 trillion at the end of June 2023.

Membership on the contributory pension scheme (CPS) has also increased by 146,920 new contributors, from 9.86 members as of the end of 2022 to over 10 million members as of June 2023.

“The CPS has ensured that public and private sector workers can build retirement savings throughout their working lives, fostering financial security during their golden years,” Mrs. Dahir-Umar said.

Head, Corporate Communications Department, PenCom, Abdulquadir Dahiru, said as part of its supervisory functions, PenCom has stablished standards, rules and guidelines, including effective on-site and off-site supervision for the management of the pension funds under its enabling Act. The aim is to guide against sharp practices and entrench transparency.

According to Dahiru, PenCom was promoting capacity building and institutional strengthening of pension fund administrators and custodians.

He told the participants that the sector is still challenged by the fact that service culture is still evolving – non-functional call centres, inadequate spread of PFAs branches/service centres and infrastructure; incomplete customer information/records and external exigencies/dependencies of the pension industry, including employers, financial ecosystem and other service providers/vendors

Head, Consumer Protection Fepartment at the commission, Ikenna Chidi-Ebere, said the commission has provided effective platforms to enable consumers to lodge their complaints for swift response. He also announced that the commission has allocated dedicated staff to provide swift daily responses to complaints and inquiries received.

“All complaints from consumers regarding applications made through the PFAs are promptly escalated to the PFAs, providing them with a specific timeframe to address and resolve the complaint. In case the issues remain unresolved, they are escalated within a specific timeframe to the relevant departments in the commission, along with the feedback received from the PFA mentioned earlier,” he stated.