Pension funds intact, Pencom reassures Nigerians

 

By Sodiq Omolaoye, Abuja

Pension Photo/PIXABAY

National Pension Commission (Pencom) has clarified that the Federal Government had not borrowed money from any pension fund administrator.

Its Head of Corporate Services, Alhaji Abdulqadir Dahiru, stated this in Abuja while speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Public Complaint Commission, with the theme: “Effective administration of the contributory pension scheme in Nigeria: Challenges and the way forward.”

He said the clarification was in response to complaints that a large chunk of the government’s recurrent spending was by borrowing from pension funds.

Dahiru observed that instead of the government borrowing pension funds, it was the investment teams of pension fund administrators that invest in government bonds to enhance their returns and risk considerations.

Some stakeholders had raised the alarm that the government was borrowing from pension funds, posing threat to contributors.

According to them, the safety of the fund is paramount to contributors and relevant stakeholders.

They stressed the need to verify the allegation to curb the threat to the scheme.