PenOp kicks against bill seeking to exempt n’assembly staff from contributory pension scheme

The Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) has kicked against a bill seeking to exempt staff of the national assembly from the contributory pension scheme (CPS).

The bill, sponsored by Abdulganiyu Olododo, chairman of the house committee on national planning and economic development, passed second reading in June and with the approval, it would be slated for the third reading, then passed into law.

Reacting in a statement, Oguche Agudah, president of PenOp, alleged that the passage of the bill was a conspiracy to truncate the contributory pension scheme which had over time evolved with assets worth over N14 trillion.

He said the proposed bill was not in conformity with the standard rules of passing bills as it had no public input.

“We are not convinced that this bill was passed in good faith. We also believe that an important bill of this nature, should go through the standard and due legislative processes,” Agudah said.

“One of such processes is the convening of a public hearing where all stakeholders that are affected by the bill are invited to discuss and engage.”

“All the stakeholders like the workers union, labour, the Pension Fund Operators, the regulators, employers of labour and other critical stakeholders were not engaged in the process.

“We are also aware that some principal officers of the House who normally should oversee the passage of bills were unavoidably absent, bringing the integrity of the process into question. We are forced to question whose interests this bill is geared to serve.

“It needs to be ascertained, why the bill was passed without the crucial input of citizens and stakeholders.

“This breach of sacrosanct legislative processes and the rather hurried passage of this bill triggers serious concerns and should be revisited urgently in the interest of both national assembly staff, the pension industry and the nation in general.

“As a matter of fact, there are a number of proposed amendments to the current pension act that have been proposed within the house for a number of years. So, for this bill to pass quickly, while the others left unattended to speaks to ulterior motives.”

The PenoP president recalled that the federal government had earlier issued a white paper stating that the police force or any other government agency should not leave the contributory pension scheme as the scheme was the federal government’s way to have structured and sustainable pensions for its employees.

He said that analysis of actuarial reports have further shown that it would be impractical and irresponsible to move the police or other sectors of the federal civil service from the current CPS to a defined benefit scheme (DBS) because of the amount of funds this would cost considering the current fiscal position of the government.

Last year, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) sought to exit the pension scheme, but the National Pension Commission (PenCom) said the move was unnecessary