Reps probe N15.5trn pension assets

• …Invite retirees with complaints against PFAs

The House of Representatives Committee on Pension said it has gone far in addressing the concerns over the administration of the over N15.5 trillion Pension assets and the N10 trillion given to the federal government as loan as well as other issues.

Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Hussaini Mohammad Jalo and his Deputy, Prince Olaide Mohammed disclosed this at a press briefing on the activities of the committee on Tuesday.

He said that, the committee was mandated to “Investigate the status of the Pension Fund Assets of over N15,500,000,000,000 (Fifteen trillion five hundred million naira only) with a view to ensuring that the N10,000,000,000,000 (Ten trillion naira only) loaned to the federal government from the Pension Fund is duly recovered and modalities are put in place to hinder the collapse of the pension schemes.

“Scrutinise the failure of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in fulfilling its obligation to retirees as regard access to their retirement savings”.

Rep. Jalo noted that the committee has done its work and will address all concerns being raised on Pension by Retirees who are being subjected to unnecessary hardship despite clear provisions of the Act about their entitlements.

He said, “If they are paying pensioners as a premium, why should we have these funds stocked, being controlled by some organisations? Why? So it’s the case, for example, that the treatment of our pension funds, which is not going to be accepted. We won’t condone it. We are even going deeply into the investment.

“Are they really giving the actual returns to the contributors? They are making huge money. But what are they giving the contributors? We are going into that. So we are using this medium to call on the general public, whoever has any complaint, against PFAs, forward it to the committee, for further necessary action”.

On his part, the deputy chairman of the committee, Rep. Olaide Mohammed said that many organisations are not complying with the Pension Act, especially in the private sector which he said the committee has addressed and many other issues in its recommendations.

“So we will not talk about all those observations for now. And like we said, in Nigeria most companies are not complying with the Pension Act because any organisation that has 15 or more staff must enrol their members, I mean their staff, under the CPS. But today you see many organisations, they are not doing that.

“We want to make sure that every worker in Nigeria enjoys the pension and we are working on that. We will ensure that they comply. All these multinational companies, even private companies in Nigeria, are working on that and very soon you will see a change in the pension industry”.

Begin probe of $2billion renewable energy investments

In a related development, the House of Representatives Committee on Renewable Energy on Tuesday commenced investigation of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government over the utilisation of over $2 billion grants and investments made into the country’s renewable energy sector between 2015 to date.

Chairman of the committee, Rep Afam Victor Ogene at the beginning of the investigative hearing, lamented that despite the huge grants and investments made into the renewable sector, there have been no commensurate improvement.

He said the resolution for the investigative hearing followed a motion on the subject matter, sponsored by a member representing Oshodi-Isolo II Federal constituency, Lagos State, Hon. Okey-Joe Onuakalusi.

“We all know the importance of sustainable electricity availability to the development of the economy, so the House is concerned that despite the government attracting over $2 billion in renewable energy investments in the past decade, there has been less than commensurate improvement in the sector”, he said.

He said the investigation was not to witch-hunt any agency or individual, but to discourage opaqueness and promote transparency and objectivity in handling public resources for the overall development and good of the nation.

Declaring the hearing open, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen said the mandate of the committee was both crucial and timely as it seeks to investigate grants and investments in Nigeria’s renewable energy landscape from 2015 to the present, examining their impact, outcomes, and alignment with national goals.

He said since 2015, Nigeria has attracted billions of dollars in grants and investments into renewable energy, from both domestic and international sources, adding that these funds were intended to revolutionise energy infrastructure, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and ultimately address our pressing electricity challenges.