PenCom recovers 11bn pension contributions from defaulting employers

By Abdul Olalekan

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has recovered about N11 billion between 2013 and now, from employers who refused to remit the pension contributions of their workers.

The commission equally applauded the recovery agents for the feat in recovering this money, adding that the commission learnt that several thousands of employers were not funding their workers’ Retiring Savings Accounts (RSAs), which necessitated the need to recruit these recovery agents.

PenCom said it is partnering with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to ensure that all outstanding contributions from erring employers were remitted.

Meanwhile, Director General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, had said earlier in Lagos that the agency was partnering with the anti-graft agency to prosecute defaulting employers, adding that the commission was compiling the list of erring employers, who have not been remitting deducted pension contributions, for prosecution, a move to address the growing cases of unremitted pension fund in the country.

Anohu-Amazu, said: “Non-remittance is on two fronts; that is, those who are not contributing at all and those who have their contributions deducted from their salaries and not sent to their Retirement Saving Accounts (RSA). That in itself is a financial crime.  We are working very closely with EFCC and there is collaboration. We are compiling the list of those that are not remitting because that is theft.”

“We receive calls from individuals showing proof of deductions from their salaries and when they look at statements from their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), it does not tally.” she noted.

However, the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has grown to N6.02 trillion at the end of November 2016. The funds rose from N4.6 trillion at the end of the 2014 financial period to N5.3 trillion in 2015.