By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has successfully recovered a total sum of successfully recovered a total of N25.45 billion in unremitted pension contributions from defaulting employers between the years 2012 and 2023.

This substantial amount encompasses the principal contributions of N12.

The disclosure was made by the Head of Corporate Communications of PenCom, Mr Ibrahim Buwai during the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) Annual General Meeting held in Abuja at the weekend.

Buwai highlighted the importance of the Pension Reforms Act, noting that the legislation mandates penalties for late remittances, accruing interest at a rate of 2% per month.

He emphasised the nearly equal distribution between recovered principal contributions and penalties, underscoring the comprehensive efforts to enforce compliance.

He said: “From the inception of these recovery agents’ programmes in 2012 to December 31, 2023, the principal contributions that were recovered were about N12.9 billion while the penalty was about N12.5 billion.

“So, you can see that it’s almost 50-50. All this is what has been recovered from employers and paid into RSAs. The good thing is that all this penalty and principal goes into the individual RSA account.

“Nobody takes a penny, not PFAs, not PenCom, nobody. All these money recovered were for RSA holders and it goes into RSA. What you can help us by way of employers is that it is not in their interests not to remit because it is cheaper to remit than not to remit.”

 Addressing Compliance Challenges

PenCom’s recovery efforts are not without challenges. Buwai pointed out two major issues: employers failing to remit pension contributions and the lack of proper schedules accompanying remittances to Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), which hampers the allocation of funds to RSA holders.

PenCom has taken proactive measures to combat these issues, including publicising a list of uncredited remittances and urging concerned parties to ensure compliance.

Buwai said, “We have the issue of employers not remitting. The second issue is that employers remitted but if there is no company schedule that shows the employers that these monies belong to Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), they cannot apportion to RSA holders.

“We are not happy and that is why in 2023, we put out a statement on it and on our website, we have a long list of remittances that we saw were uncredited, calling on the people concerned to come forward and make sure the remittances are done.”

Ensuring Pension Fund Safety

Reiterating PenCom’s commitment to the safety of pension funds, Buwai assured that the regulatory body maintains strict guidelines to safeguard pension assets. These guidelines are meticulously designed to protect pension funds against potential investment risks.

He said:, “We are not wavering, we have not made it lax or easy. All those stringent guidelines that were thoroughly outlined so that pension funds might be protected in the event that these investment instruments might be available – those stringent requirements remain.

“All we know is that if the pension funds are available, pension funds managers will review and take their decisions.

“I have to also clarify that PenCom does not partake in investment issues on the pension funds.

“All we do as regulators is that we set out general guidelines as contained in our investment regulations.”

The diligent efforts of PenCom to recover unremitted pension contributions reflect its unwavering commitment to protecting employees’ retirement savings and ensuring employers adhere to regulatory obligations.