Reps Invite CBN Governor, Officials Over Alleged Pension Agreement Breaches

The House of Representatives has called on Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso and related officials, pension administrators, regulators and affected pensioners to give reasons for alleged violations of approved pension agreements. It also mandated that its Committee on Pension investigate the bank's treatment of pensions.

This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Hussaini Mohammed Jallo which seeks investigation into allegations of non-adherence to pension contracts, failure to implement harmonisation policy and exclusion of certain pensioners.

Pensioner's Woes

In moving the motion Jallo noted that the administration of pensions and other retirement benefits to ex-CBN workers has led to a lot of suffering to affected pensioners. He said alleged violations of binding agreements may have deprived pensioners of their rightful benefits.

He added that alleged failure or improper implementation of the Harmonisation Policy may have led to discrepancies in the payment of pensions and build up of pension arrears, causing stress to affected retirees.

Jallo further noted that some pensioners may have been left out of general pension increases due to extra or non-statutory requirements that may not be in-line with relevant laws, binding agreements and approved pension policies.

Fewer Pensioners

He noted that the number of CBN pensioners has dropped from 5,104 in 2011 to just 3,000 today, representing a drop of over 2,100 pensioners or an average of 140 per year.

Continued delays in the payment of pensions will further exacerbate poverty, ill-health and preventable deaths to our elderly and vulnerable pensioners. The House emphasised that those who have served our country deserve to be treated fairly and transparently with timely payment of all their lawful benefits.

House Mandates

The House mandated the CBN and others to investigate and pay all outstanding pension arrears due to affected pensioners over a set time frame and ensure that relevant general pension increases are paid to eligible pensioners.

They also mandated the Committee on Pension to investigate the allegations of failure to implement the Harmonisation Policy, how it was approved, why there has been a delay, what the value of the outstanding arrears were and what impact this has had on affected pensioners.

The committee should also investigate the allegations of eligible retirees being left out of general pension increases and ensure this is in line with relevant laws, contractual obligations and approved pension policies. They should also review any relevant agreements, policy circulars, payment records and actuarial reports. This should identify any failings and make recommendations.

The committee should report back within 4 weeks.

Source: https://leadership.ng

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