PenCom and challenges of public institutions in development

PenCom

The tasks of building the nation’s economy has been that of twists and turns, facilitated by obvious inefficiency of public institutions that are charged with overseeing most critical areas of development.  Many of these institutions, appear to be constrained by lack of robust enabling legislations to address the constantly emerging challenges that characterise the socio-economic and political situations.

Sometimes, the cause of the constraints and the tendency to nothing are traceable to the administrators of such enabling legislations, who often prefer to yield to abuse of power, both internal and/or external.
Indeed, the combination or any of these factors could undermine any public institution and render it incapable of achieving the objectives for its creation.
 
The National Pension Commission (Pencom) is a case study of the challenges of building strong public institutions in Nigeria.
Pencom, though relatively young institution, was established in 2004 to regulate and supervise a new pension industry, under the Pension Reform Act. It made provisions that ensured the establishment of institutions for the effective implementation of the requisite operations.

The Federal Government also ensured that the pioneer management of Pencom was a blend of tested and trusted professionals, who in turn, head-hunted a crop of competent Nigerians to establish both the regulatory institution and the industry operators.

The result of the Pencom experiment was a fantastic scorecard of unparalleled achievements in financial services regulation in Nigeria. For the first time in its recent history, the country successfully introduced and nurtured a socio-economic reform that became a reference point both at the domestic and continental levels.
 
Expectedly, however, Pencom’s management, enabling law, regulations, systems and processes evolved in the course of time. In 2012, Pencom experienced its first management transition.

Two years later, in 2014, there was a review and re-enactment of the Pension Reform Act, which introduced many issues that are now controversial, setting the tone for ensuing challenges of the institution. Since then, the institution had been infested with issues that had plagued other public institutions in the country.