PenCom Reiterates Commitment to Transparent, Accountable Pension Administration

*Refutes allegations of financial impropriety against director general

James Emejo in Abuja

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) yesterday urged the public to, “ignore the fake documents and discredited allegations,” being recycled by online news portals over an alleged financial impropriety in the commission.

The apex pension industry regulatory body insisted it has nothing to hide and would continue to run a transparent and accountable system.
The assurance came against the backdrop of reports that the DG was allegedly paid millions of dollars as estacodes for foreign trips she did not embark upon in 2020 – a period when international travel was restricted folowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The commission, in a statement issued by the management, however, condemned the, “renewed campaign of outrageous falsehood,” against its Director General/Chief Executive, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, in particular and the commission in general.

It noted that, “Although the promoters of this fiction went to the extent of manufacturing documents and listing non-existent bank accounts to make the fabrication look real, a fiction remains a fiction and can never become the truth no matter how many times it is repeated and recycled.”
PenCom further described the report as a poor attempt at calumny which was exposed by the fact that there was a global lockdown in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic during which international travels were restricted.

The commission noted that offices were shut down and most people had to hold virtual meetings during the pandemic, adding that the malicious narrative was the, “most outlandish to suggest that any government agency would claim to be paying allowances to its officials for international travels when most airports were shut down globally.”

According to the management, “we are aware of current political intrigues in the country caused by the jostling for appointments, but we believe there are more decent ways of going about it than peddling tales by moonlight and using notorious online outlets to push the lies to unsuspecting readers.
“The public is implored to ignore these fake documents and the discredited allegations being recycled at the slightest opportunity. The commission has nothing to hide and will continue to run a transparent and accountable system.”

It said, “More so, official foreign trips require strict documentation, including air tickets, stamped passport pages and evidence of number of days spent. Rates for estacodes are standardised.

“If the DG were to spend two years abroad without returning to the country for one day, it would still be impossible for her to claim a million dollars as estacode. The desperate fabricators need to respect the intelligence of Nigerians.”