‘She was out of town’ — PenCom clarifies DG’s absence at reps panel hearing

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has explained why Aisha Dahir-Umar, its director-general, failed to appear before a committee of the house of representatives.

The house committee on finance had summoned Dahir-Umar to defend the commission’s 2021/2022 budget and present its 2023-2025 medium-term expenditure framework/fiscal strategy paper (MTEF/FSP).

At the hearing, on Thursday, Saidu Abdullahi, deputy chairman, house committee on finance, frowned at the absence of the commission’s director-general. 

“I do not know where to start because your director-general is always unavoidably absent. I do not know why she is shying away from sitting with the committee, and I think it calls on us to demand responsibility from her,” Abdullahi had said.

However, PenCom, in a statement on Saturday, clarified that the DG was attending another official function “out of town”. 

The commission added that the relevant commissioner and management staff represent her in such cases. 

“It is pertinent to note that the DG’s absence was because she was out of town attending an official engagement,” the statement reads. 

“However, the Commissioner of Finance, the Director and Head of Accounts and the Deputy Director and Head of Financial Planning represented her, which is the usual practice whenever the DG is unavailable.

“The Director General takes invitations from the National Assembly seriously and ensures that she attends personally except when the exigencies of her office make it impossible, in which case the relevant commissioner and management staff of the commission represent her.

“Finally, PenCom notes with satisfaction the observation by the house committee on the quality and comprehensiveness of the reports submitted to it by the commission.