Chevron Retirees Cry Out over Alleged Pension Mismanagement

Wale Igbintade

Retirees of Chevron Nigeria under the umbrella of Pensioners of Chevron of Nigeria (PenCoN) have asked the multinational company to respect the laws regulating pension in Nigeria by involving them in the administration of their pension fund.

Speaking at a press conference  in Lagos at the weekend, the executives and members of the association decried Chevron’s continued refusal to recognise their over 1,000 member association in the administration of their pension fund, saying the action of the multinational constitutes a flagrant disregard of their rights of association and choice to determine how their pension fund is administered.

The President of PenCoN, Omare Jonathan, in his address noted that for almost three decades, Chevron forced fitted its retirees into a union, Chevron Retiree Association of Nigeria (CRAN), registered as a limited liability company and not as a trade union or pressure group, and had since been determining how their pension fund is managed without their input.

He said: ‘Having tried unsuccessfully to convince our former employer to respect our rights, Nigerian laws and Chevron tenets, principles and values they preach,  it has become incumbent on us to cry out to let the world know of our fate over the past two decades in the hands of this company we served with our youth days.

“When in 2007 the Pension Reform Act came into being, along the line of this commitment, rather than allow us go for contributory pension scheme where our money could generate income for us, they deployed subtle fear mongering of the safety of our funds to convince us to remain with defined benefits where our money remained with them for reinvestment into their business.

“This arrangement was alright because PENGASSAN negotiated a 60 percent annual cushion package for retirees. But they unilaterally yanked off this cushion that ameliorated the impact of rapidly crashing naira. It became so bad that persons who left service when the naira was N90  to a dollar kept receiving the same thing even when naira crashed to N1000.

“In all of these, the Chevron Retiree Association of Nigeria (CRAN), which they force-fitted all Chevron retirees was silent while retirees were dying in droves in penury. This quickly raised our suspicion.

“To strengthen retiree representation, many retirees were no longer comfortable with the fraudulent conspiracy, and decided to form another association. They wrote Chevron withdrawing from CRAN and directed that their dues be deducted at source and paid to their new association (PenCoN)

“Lastly, having heard of the birth of a legally qualified and vibrant association, they quickly tracked their decision to outsource our in-house defined benefit pension they convinced us to remain in 16 years ago, and clandestinely handed us over to external pension managers they once condemned.

“This way, they  successfully reaped the full benefits of using our funds for their business without any reward to us and are now prepared to dump us with a third party (PFA) we have no agreement with or owe us anything now they are planning to sell off their holdings and leave Nigeria.”

Omare demanded that Chevron should retrace its steps, give proper recognition and audience to PenCoN, and immediately stop everything concerning CNCPFA outsourcing until funds owners are engaged and alignment reached.

He said: “Chevron as a matter of urgency and importance must comply with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chevron’s Operational tenets # 7 & 10 by engaging the Pensioners of Chevron immediately to recognize PenCoN and start the implementation of dues deduction at source immediately.”

Also speaking, legal representative of the association, Evans Ufeli, alleged that the actions of Chevron Nigeria in not recognising PenCoN and mismanagement of its retirees fund clearly violate the Pension Act and the Nigerian Constitution.

“PenCoN has sent letters of introduction and invitation for meetings. Letters were received but not even an acknowledgment came from the leadership of CNCPFA. This non-recognition is an infraction of the law of the Land.

“CNL, is mandated by Chevron Corporation, to always comply with all applicable local (Country) laws and regulations where she operates. The Nigerian Constitution is unambiguous on the subject of freedom of Association. It is not the place of CNL to choose which Association retirees are to belong to. CNL does not have any right to force-fit them into CRAN. PenCoN, is their choice and CNCPFA and CNL must respect their right to freedom of Association,” he said.

Ufeli noted that if the demands of PenCoN is not complied with by Chevron, his clients would proceed to court to seek redress.