The Economic and Financial Crime Commission ( EFCC) has disclosed that it is investigating pension fraud between 2010 to 2020 worth a total of N157 billion.
The Commission made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of a two-day sensitization programme held in Abuja, with the theme: “Eradication of pension fraud in Nigeria.”
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Giving a case study analysis of fraud in pension administration in the country, the EFCC Director of operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol said: “We have seen fraud cases with a total value of N157bn between 2010 to 2020.”
Chukkol said the Defined benefit Scheme (DBS) is responsible for a greater proportion of the fraud cases with the bulk of the money going into private pockets.
The period between 2010 to 2016 saw a fraud case value of N111bn. 2017 recorded N16bn. 2017-12bn. 2019 N2bn and 2020 saw N16bn.
In his welcome remark, the Chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa said: “we cannot say exactly how much is lost to pension fraud in financial terms, bearing in mind that most cases are unreported or under-reported, but at the EFCC, we have investigated and documented hundreds of billions of naira lost to fraud in the pension industry.
“Beyond the money, is also the unquantifiable loss of dignity in the retiree who has to grovel and beg and even die in some instances in order to access his contributions.”
Bawa said the Commission is worried about the quality of regulation; the fidelity of pension managers and the inefficiency in the management of pension assets which have grievous consequences for the national economy.
The Director-General of Pencom, Aisha Dahir-Umar in her goodwill message said: “ as it is the case with every human endeavour, retrogressive elements continued to exploit procedural gaps in the operations of pension practitioners in both the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and DBS to the detriment of unsuspecting public.
“Thus, new issues and challenges continue to emerge, which place a special responsibility on the regulators, the operators and other stakeholders to constantly review their operating environment with a view to finding solutions to address the problems. “
Represented by the Commissioner Inspectorate, Mr Clement Oyedele Akintola, Umar said the continued collaboration with the EFCC would certainly serve as a catalyst for reducing the menace of fraud in the pension industry to the barest minimum.
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