The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has renewed its call on the Federal Government to immediately inaugurate the governing boards of the Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), insisting that it will not compromise on accountability in the management of workers’ funds.
In a statement issued on Wedesday in Abuja and signed by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the NLC accused PenCom of issuing “polemics of half-truths, furtive denials and lame excuses” instead of addressing the substantive issue of non-constitution of its board.
“The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress considers the response of the PenCom management to the discharge of NLC’s mandate of protecting the rights and interests of Nigerian workers as a little too dramatic,” Ajaero said.
According to him, PenCom’s attempt to dismiss labour’s demands, blame President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and simultaneously excuse the government for the delay in board inauguration reflects “a crisis of transparency in the management of pension funds.”
“Perhaps, what PenCom failed to tell us are the specific steps taken by the Federal Government to address the issue of non-constitution and inauguration of the PenCom governing board for more than five years. This aloofness goes to the heart of lack of transparency,” the statement read.
The NLC warned that the absence of governing boards has created a dysfunctional governance structure that undermines accountability in pension fund management. “All we need is a commitment from the Federal Government that the labours of Nigerian workers through trade unions to develop a virile contributory pension scheme are not derailed by the demons of poor accountability and oversight that destroyed the old defined benefit scheme,” Ajaero added.
Calling on PenCom to focus on persuading the government rather than defending its failures, the NLC declared: “The Nigeria Labour Congress will never shirk from its duty of holding the government to account on the management of public trust, particularly workers’ funds. It is simply too dangerous and gravely costly to be silent when a democratic government obstructs representative governance. A stitch in time saves nine.”
