The National Pension Commission has said it is working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to eradicate fraud in the pension sector.
The Director-General, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, spoke while giving her goodwill message at the opening ceremony of a two-day sensitisation workshop on the ‘Eradication of pension fraud in Nigeria’.
In a statement from PenCom on Tuesday, Dahir-Umar also said that the industry had accumulated pension assets in excess of N13tn, which had been invested in various aspects of the economy and still growing.
She said, “The National Pension Commission is indeed pleased to partner with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in this awareness creation initiative, which essentially seeks to examine the incidences of fraud in the pension sector in Nigeria and ways of eradicating the menace in a proactive manner.
“This event will, no doubt, create the synergy needed to boost the efforts of the two organisations in the discharge of their respective statutory mandates relating to the theme of the workshop.”
The director-general who was represented by the Commissioner Inspectorate, PenCom, Mr Clement Akintola, said, 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.
She said that the Act also established PenCom to regulate and supervise all pension matters in Nigeria, including the licensing of Pension Fund Administrators and Pension Fund Custodians.
The director-general 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.”
She said the systems and procedures had become reference points for other African countries, as many of them had undertaken study visits to the commission.