By Nnamdi Ojiego
A coalition of civil society organisations, CSOs, has condemned recent media attacks on the Director General of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, describing allegations of corruption and financial misappropriation against her as frivolous and baseless.
The coalition noted that the attacks on Dahir-Umar were a calculated attempt to stain her towering reputation and therefore, passed a vote of confidence on the PenCom boss over her transformational leadership at the commission
A statement by the group, however, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the allegations and see those championing the attacks as attention seekers who were out to derail the government’s agenda in the pension sector.
The statement was signed by Ebun Sowumi for Campaign for Democracy, CD; Alex Omotehinse for Centre for Human Rights and Justice; Oluwatobi Johnson for Centre for Public Accountability, CPA; Prince Emmanuel Goodnews for Sustainable Initiative for Good Governance; and Declan Ihehaire for Activists for Good Governance.
Others are Sola Abisogun for Media Rights Concern; Temisan Isijola for Lawyers Network for Change; Gbenga Ganzallo, Coalition for Democrats for Good Governance; Aremo Olusegun for Centre for Justice; and Ahmed Balogun for Civil Coalition for Good Governance.
The statement noted that the commission has witnessed exponential growth of pension assets from N6.42 trillion in 2017 when Dahir-Umar assumed office to N14.6 trillion as of October 2022; and a successful recapitalization of the pension industry from N1 billion to N5 billion, a move, it said, has increased investor confidence in the sector.
Other achievements, according to the statement, included “introduction of the Multi-Fund Structure in the investment of pension fund assets to address the investment appetite and preference of contributors and their age profile;
“Approving a structured reduction of fees on the Net Asset Value of pension fund assets; and introducing the Micro Pension Plan for the participation of informal sector workers in the Contributory Pension Scheme; and the introduction of mortgage scheme for Retirement Savings Account Holders, the first of its kind that will enable RSA holders to use the balance of their RSA savings for mortgage, among many other brilliant innovations introduced by her.
“We, therefore, want to reinforce and reiterate that the landmark achievements of Mrs Dahiru-Umar are in public glare and have been recognized by labour unions, pensioners, civil society organizations, including the international community.
“As such, we believe that President Buhari and stakeholders in the pension sector are aware of these giant strides and will not be distracted by the cheap blackmail by a group of persons on account of their dislike for the principled and determined stance of the DG to her responsibilities”.
The post Corruption allegations against PenCom boss frivolous, baseless – CSOs appeared first on Vanguard News.
Last modified: December 22, 2022
