PenCom cautions Pension contributors, Pensioners against kickbacks

THE National Pension Commission (PenCom) on Saturday urged pensioners and pension contributors not to give any inducement to facilitate the payment of their retirement benefits and issuance of Compliance Certificates.

A statement signed by the Acting Director-General of PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, in Abuja said the warning was to prevent pensioners and pension contributors from being duped.

The commission said pensioners and pension contributors should hint it about anyone who demands a bribe or any form of inducement in whatever form from them

PenCom said it was dedicated to safeguarding the rights of pensioners and pension contributions and the payment of retirement benefits as and when due.

“PenCom, as the regulator of all pension matters in Nigeria, has entrenched good corporate governance practices, high ethical standards and zero tolerance to any form of malpractice in the conduct of its staff and the PFAs that manage the pension assets.

“In this regard, the management and staff of the commission do not receive money or any other gratification to facilitate the payment of retirement benefits, issuance of Compliance Certificates and engagement of vendors and service providers.

“The commission does not also accept kickbacks from any individual or organisation in the discharge its responsibilities,’’ it said.

The commission stressed that upon its establishment, it introduced a robust institutional framework and reforms for the administration of pension in the country.

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“The reform has instituted transparent processes in the operations of PenCom and the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in retirement benefits payments.

“Also the enforcement of compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA), 2014 as well as other operations of the industry,’’ PenCom said.

The commission said consistent with the above, the payment of retirement benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) is made by the PFAs strictly from the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) of pension contributors.

The commission also said that in the performance of its statutory mandate, it issues Compliance Certificates to organisations wishing to bid for contracts with Federal Government institutions.