Pensions n Retirement | |
Pensions n Retirement | |
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Thursday, October 18, 2018 060037PM / By Otto
AbasiEkong, Proshare WebTV
Some months
back, a group of concerned staff members of one of the key regulators in the
Nigerian financial space, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) wrote the
Anti-graft agency, the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over
some developments in the regulatory body.
In the
petition letter dated June 12, 2018 and signed by Isyaku Abduralman under the
aegis of the ‘Pension Reform Advocacy Group’ , it outlined five (5)
allegations of governance and financial impropriety against the Acting Director-General
of PENCOM.
The
Pension Reform Act 2004 established the National Pension Commission (PenCom) as
the body to regulate, supervise and ensure the effective administration of
pension matters in Nigeria; currently an N8 trillion industry.
Below is the full text
of the petition letter and the issues raised:
12
June 2018
The
Acting Executive Chairman
Economic
& Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
New
Head Office Complex Jabi Abuja
We,
the concerned and aggrieved staff of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM),
are writing to inform and brief the Commission (EFCC) about the state of
the PENCOM where we all work and contribute our quota to nation building,
progress and development of our fatherland. You would recall, Sir, that there
was a change of management of the Commission in 2017 where the PenCom Exco was
removed and required to hand over to the most Senior Staff Member of the
Commission. We are at a loss as how the person of Mrs. Aisha Dahiru-Umar was
saddled with the responsibility of leading the Commission in Acting Capacity
since she ought to have retired since December 2016. Furthermore, she has spent
all her time in the Commission in the facility management and lately in the CSR
Department due to her severely limited intellect and as such lacks the
regulatory competence required to head the Commission.
It is
without doubt that the two previous Excos made remarkable progress in
institutionalizing the Commission’s long term developmental strategy,
especially in the core areas of daily operations, infrastructure and welfare
enhancement of all staff. It was clear to all and sundry that Pencom was being
directed to a glorious path evidenced by consistent factual milestones.
Unfortunately,
however, upon the resumption of duty of Aisha Umar, Pencom entered into a phase
of tragic demise. We have, in the last one year, witnessed brazen financial
recklessness, gross incompetence, the most extreme form of nepotism and
mismanagement of material and human resources. These ills have essentially
engendered Staff disillusionment and a general feeling of helplessness and
despondency. This is truly unfortunate Sir.
A
chronicle of the fraud and insider dealings going on in the Commission shall
follow in turn Sir.
Contract Scams and Demands for Kickbacks
There
is large scale financial impropriety and graft going on in the Commission at
present. Contractors have been inundated with constant request for kickbacks
from Aisha Umar during contract negotiations (Evidence Available),
without which the said contracts are diverted and given to another company that
is ‘willing to do business’. Legitimate contractors who have since fulfilled
their deliverables are being owed and are told to come for “discussions”
otherwise they will not be paid.
Most
reprehensible is the malicious illegal stalling of the Pension Administration
Project (PAS) for the simple reason that the American Company who have emerged
the preferred bidders are not willing to engage in talks for kickbacks. Sir,
contrary to the falsehood that is being peddled by her, we would like to bring
it to your attention that the PAS project had been ongoing for over a year and
the Commission has expended a lot of resources to document the steps required
to fully automate its regulatory activities. The procurement process commenced
with the issuance of a Request For Proposal (RFP) and culminated in the
issuance of a no objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement. We gathered
that the no objection arrived in the Commission shortly before the management
change. Since then, instead of Aisha Umar to move it forward, she and her evil
cohorts have been trying to get the BPP to cancel the contract. Following a
letter drafted by Sani Mohammed, the Commission Secretary/Legal Adviser (CSLA),
the BPP in rejecting the request to cancel the contract, faulted the points
raised by Mohammed Sani as lacking in legal merit reprimanded the Commission
with a stern warning to immediately finalize the procurement process. This
technology ought to have been installed since last year, without which the
Micro-Pension initiative, a major milestone of the administration cannot take
off.
A
sinister group of Ekanem Aikhomu, Datti Mohammed, Sani Mohammed also
unilaterally awarded contracts to whom they please and back it up with bogus
evaluations which they instruct Mr. Bako Mohammed, a long time criminal
associate of Aisha Dahir Umar, to process. Mr. Bako Mohammed who has been
undergoing investigations for rent seeking activities, was returned to
procurement to facilitate Aisha’s nefarious transactions.
Cases
abound with proof of companies and contractors who were and are still unduly
engaged without recourse to proper procurement and bidding processes. For
instance, an actuary firm, RBA Limited who has close ties to Ekanem Aikhomu was
paid N60 Million for nebulous services without due process being followed. This
is in contravention of all procurement laws and due process. This group of
individuals have continued to help themselves in a most wanton manner to the
coffers of the Commission and have subjected those against their activities to
frequent changes of their departments as a way of subjugating them so that they
will not expose their clandestine activities. They reward the faithful with
incessant trips out of the country sham “overseas training” to keep them loyal.
We
appeal that a thorough investigation be carried out to unravel this
reprehensible activity and secure the immediate return of all monies to the
Commission as leaving this unchecked is antithetical to the anti-corruption
stance of this noble administration. The ‘Kickback regime’ style now in Pencom
which was NEVER the case essentially renders nugatory the efforts of our
indefatigable President in curbing the menace of corruption in our body polity.
Media Scams
Frequent
singing off of huge public funds in the name of media and sensitization
programmes, a large chunk which is usually pocketed by the Aisha Umar and two
of her cronies; Mr. Peter Aghahowa,who is currently the head of Communications
in Pencom and Mr. Tunde Philips who is the South West Regional Head, based in
Lagos is now the order of the day. The office of the DG has a statutory
approval limit of N2.5M, and Aisha Umar has continued to squander funds by
signing multiple payment vouchers daily just under the capped limit thereby
providing a slush fund for embezzlement by her and her cronies. Part of these
funds are used to lobby various stakeholders in furtherance of her desperation
to be confirmed as substantive DG. She has also used part of these funds to
purchase two brand new 2018 fully loaded Lexus Jeep cars. This transaction was
facilitated by Tunde Phillips who, again, with funds siphoned from “media
enlightenment” arranged a door to door trucking delivery from Lagos to her
residence in Stallion Court, Wuse 2, Abuja.
A
cursory look at the books will reveal this fact. We do not believe in hearsays
neither do we engage in wishful thinking, the facts are there. An investigation
into the media and sensitization programmes in the Commission and the funds
disbursed in the past year under the subhead will reveal dirty deals
perpetrated by Aisha Umar in furtherance of her personal aggrandizement and a
desperate bid to secure a confirmation as substantive Director General.
Reckless Diversion of Public Funds
There
is rather incestuous utilization of Government funds to settle the Acting DG’s
personal expenses. Again, a cursory look into the TSA account of the Commission
will reveal diversion of Government funds into personal business of Mrs. Umar
under various guises. A most perfidious phenomenon on this score is the quest
for collection of humongous travel allowances for seminars, courses,
sensitization programmes and other ‘events’. She collects all the monies for
the aforementioned – local and international – without making an appearance in
any of them. This can be verified from local and international airlines and the
events themselves. She is ALWAYS represented at functions for fear of her
ignorance of the entire pension reform being exposed. She studiously avoids
engaging with the public and yet she collects allowances for such appearances.
This
is a gross violation of public service rules and regulations. Sadly, while
President Buhari’s administration has made tremendous strides in cutting cost
and entrenching improved service delivery, the reverse has been happening in
Pencom for the past one year. We have evidence of phantom contract engagements
which huge public funds have been appropriated for. It is disheartening that
such level of graft is going unchecked and Aisha Umar has been boasting that
she has ‘settled’ very important people and no one can investigate her. These
are verifiable facts and we urge you to correct this wicked stance by
conducting a full scale investigation so that Pencom can be cleansed, returned
to its former glory and further be strengthened to achieve its laudable
mandate. To allow the continuation of these crimes unchecked would send the
wrong signals to the contributors and retirees alike whose interest we seek to
preserve and protect.
300% Increase in The Terminal Benefits Of General Manager
Aisha
Dahir-Umar together with some General Managers have plunged the Commission into
financial abyss by recommending and unilaterally appropriating a salary
increase for all cardres of staff to gain support for the clueless and
incompetent leadership of Aisha Dahir-Umar. What the staff are just finding out
however is that she surreptitiously embarked on a 300% increase in the terminal
benefits of GMs. Terminal benefits, as we are all aware, are paid at the end of
service of a public servant. However, right now in Pencom under the
machinations of Aisha Dahir-Umar, the GMs have started paying themselves
upfront and enjoying terminal benefis while they are still receiving salaries!!
This
is a gross violation of public service rules and all known rules of engagement.
The question is who approved the humongous package? At what point was the
approval obtained? And by whom? Where are the supporting documents? It is quite
obvious that the sinister group made up of Ekanem Aikhomu, Datti Mohammed, Sani
Muhammad and Aisha Dahir-Umar have pushed for this unhealthy increase. With the
active connivance of Sani Muhammed, the Commission Secretary and Legal Adviser
who has been falsifying memos to mislead the Office of the SGF, Aisha Dahir Umar
pulled off this heist to the detriment of the Commission. As a result, the
Commission’s financial health is now at grave risk, staff are unable to pursue
their regulatory activities because basic supplies like photocopying paper and
ink cannot be provided as funds have been diverted by Aisha Dahir-Umar. As we
write, terminal benefits payments are being disbursed in instalments so they
would have received all illegally appropriated funds in the event of their
eventual sack. We cannot continue like this if we hope to build a formidable
system and process to drive the change we so desire.
It is
worthy to note that the level of ineptitude and incompetence displayed in her
absolute lack of capacity to manage a blue chip organization like Pencom is
responsible for the numerous major policy somersaults in the Commission today.
For example, the Commission has witnessed more than three reshufflement
exercises in less than one year in order to “silence” perceived dissenting
voices. In addition, she has been engaged in running battle with the management
of the Creche. We understand that she is bitter at the transformation of the
Creche which was a cesspool when it was under her watch and wants to shut it
down. It took the intervention of a high ranking official in the Presidency for
her to pay the backlog owed. She was overheard furiously exclaiming that the
high ranking official cannot command her and only paid a portion of the amount
owed. She issued a termination letter to the Creche providers and shortly
afterwards (no doubt following outcry by staff) hurriedly retrieved it and
issued another letter of appointment but still wickedly slashing their
engagement fees.
She
has recklessly promoted staff to the General Manager cadre, bringing the number
to seventeen (17!) from 10 last year. These General Managers, some of whose job
functions are unclear (a GM is heading a protocol unit hitherto manned by a
staff seven notches below the grade of a GM) and whose wages and allowances are
now exceeding the emoluments of the highest paying multinational companies in
the country. The question Sir, is what hope do we as employees have for career
progression if the General Managers are seeking to perpetuate themselves in
office? According to the staff policy, GMs are promoted based on availability
of space and funds and several existing GMs ought to have retired before any
promotion was done, but this was ignored as Aisha Umar claims to be above all
rules and regulations.
Resumption of Newly Employed Staff
Last
but not the least, Sir, is the clandestine recruitment that is being carried
out by Aisha Dahir-Umar to supplant 43 persons who had been issued letters of
employment since March 2017 for resumption in May/June 2017. These people were
verbally directed by Mrs. H, Oniyangi not to resume work on the instructions of
Aisha Dahir-Umar. No reasons were given to these 43 staff, most of whom had
resigned from their previous employment and are now unemployed as a result of
the Aisha Umar’s reluctance to absorb them despite appeals from all and sundry.
Upon
their several petitions to the Office of the SGF, again, as is in consonance
with her criminal character, she has lied copiously to the SGF, citing
abnormalities and need for time to provide requisite infrastructure. An
enquiring mind should ask: what infrastructure is required for a new staff
besides a desk, chair and a computer? Provisions were already in process for
this in March 2017, hence their resumption in two batches of May and June. What
abnormality? There were requisite approvals by EXCO based on the memoranda from
both finance and HR (Sani Muhammed is in custody of the excerpts and MUST
produce them from where he has been directed to hide them by Aisha Dahir Umar)
and following oral and written interviews, successful candidates were forwarded
to the Federal Character Commission for a no objection. This was granted and it
was based on this that the employment letters were issued by Mrs. Oniyangi.
We
have since discovered that the real reason for preventing the resumption of
staff is because a secret employment is being undertaken by Aisha Dahir-Umar to
swap the 43 positions with her own candidates. Sources claim that in her greedy
fraudulent quest for money, she is charging each candidate N2M per slot! We are
all aware of the grave implications this would have on the society at large.
These newly employed young men and women have families who depend on them and
have been made to remain in limbo for the past 13 months. We believe strongly
that the candidates have the right to resume work having been issued
valid letters of employment and shoul not be subjected to the inordinate greed
and criminality of Aisha Umar.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing; the illegality of her position is glaring. In accordance with
the Commission’s approved staff policy, she ought to have retired from the
Commission since December 2016. She, therefore, could not have been the most
senior person in the Commission as at April 2017 following the disengagement of
the EXCO. Flowing from this, she has no legal basis to occupy the seat, award
contracts, employ new staff and increase allowances and pay herself double
salaries – salary of a DG and a GM. This may well be the basis for brazen
impunity in siphoning public funds – there is no career to protect.
We
implore the Commission (EFCC) to urgently intervene and thoroughly investigate
the financial frauds being perpetrated by Aisha Umar and her cohorts who are
bent on destroying the gains of Pension Reform over the past decade. Thank you.
Isyaku
Abduralman
For:
Pension Reform Advocacy Group
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