Pension Regulator reassures contributors of safety pension fund

The National Pension Commission, PenCom, has reassured pension contributors and the general public of the safety of their pension fund, even as it assured all clients of the First Guarantee Pension Limited, FGPL, that the company has been returned to normality. In a statement announcing the handover of the Pension Fund Administrator, PFA to a reconstituted board after over nine years of an interim management committee, IMC, it said “The National Pension Commission (Commission) wishes to inform stakeholders in the Nigerian Pension Industry and the general public that its regulatory intervention in First Guarantee Pension Limited (the PFA), which resulted, among other things, in the appointment of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to superintend over the affairs of the PFA had been concluded.

The intervention was undertaken in August 2011 based on the findings of the Routine and Special examinations carried out by the Commission. “The conclusion of the intervention was as a result of the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division on Thursday, 30 April 2020, in the three Appeals filed by the Commission, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the PFA, against the judgment of the Federal High Court that nullified the Commission’s regulatory measures.

The Court of Appeal’s decision upheld the appeals, thereby setting aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in its entirety. Thus, the judgment of the Court of Appeal validates the regulatory actions taken by the Commission in 2011. “Accordingly, the Commission has handed the PFA over to its reconstituted Board of Directors under the chairmanship of Alh. Kashim Ibrahim Imam with Hon. TsegbaTerngu, Hon. Ahmed Salik, Dr. Pat Asadu, and Hon. George I. Ozodinobi as members.

Concurrently, the Commission has dissolved the Interim Management Committee it appointed on 12 August 2011. The Commission would like to use this medium to assure all clients of the PFA that the company has been returned to normality. The Commission further reassures pension contributors and the general public that it is alive to its responsibility of ensuring the safety of the pension industry at all times.”