President Goodluck Jonathan in the New Year has the responsibility to urgently call to order the Chairman of the presidential Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT,) Adulrasheed Maina. Importantly President Goodluck Jonathan has the responsibility to safeguard and protect the 8 year-old new pension reform of 2004 which currently stands at 3.6 trillion Naira.
Stakeholders including the organized labour led by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) watch with utter dismay how Abdulrasheed Moina last year defied public summon by the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and States and Local Governments during its recently concluded public hearing on public pension administration. Also clearly unacceptable is the way and manner the controversial
. Chairman of what is supposed to be a short term presidential. Task force carries on as if the task force meant to manage.

police pension fund mess which clearly lacks any legal backing whatsoever has come to stay permanently. Presidential task force cannot and should not be another alternative pension commission in the country. There is only one regulatory pension commission and that is National Pension Commission, PenCom established by an Act of parliament in 2004.
Maina has been making an ill-informed. unguarded commentary on the accumulated pensions assets contributed through the hard earned savings of Nigerian workers in both the private and public sectors of the economy in the past eight years the Pension Reform Act of 2004 came into being. These commentaries if unchecked are capable of undermining the budding national pension fund and even subverting the entire pension market. For instance he was recently quoted as saying that about N3 trillion already built in the pension system commendably managed by PENCOM. The scores of pension fund administrators as well as pension fund custodians should be made available to the state governments for their so-called infrastructural development in clear violation of pension reform Act of 2004 and investment rules guiding pension fund in the country.
The point cannot be overstated. Pensi0tl funds totaling almost’, 4 trillion Naira (contributed by 6 million workers) is a contributory funds by workers for pension after work. Nigerian workers in the past decade do not part with 7.5 per cent of their relatively low earrings to’ fund’ the
infrastructural development of the state ‘as being canvassed by new funds scavengers like Maina. On the contrary,’ workers:$ voluntarily contribute to pension fund every month against the raining days, for life after work up to retirement age throu9t~ their respective Retirement Saving Accounts (RSAs).
Workers’ RSAs must be protected at all costs failing which Nigeria might witness a national pension strike. Nigerian workers’ are currently witnessing all forms of wage theft either by short changed payments I delayed payment’s’ diverted pay and bare faced pay official robbery. An’, additional pension theft through dubious pensions “for’ infrastructural developments schemes” or phony top-down social insurance scams as being proposed by Abdulrasheed Maina will be one pension Wage theft unacceptable and clearly
Provocative. ‘
Nigerian pensioners especially in the public sector are already caught between the two extremes, namely official government neglect and public sympathy, none of which is beneficial “to them. Contributory Pension scheme which is now in trillions .is a legitimate right of workers. It is a deferred payment, which both the workers and employers are compelled to set aside S0 that workers at old age will not be living on some degrading charity as if they are destitute. The challenge lies in how to make the principle of contributory pension work in Nigeria and not undermine it through ‘illegal raid on the fund and sheer

diversion to other purposes rather than pension payment as being canvassed by the likes of Maina.
Pension Act of 2004 represents a progressive labour legislation because it attempts to address the naughty i 5: I F of compensation after work. The scheme is also strong on corporate governance arrangements that are radically different from the past public sector schemes; National Pension Commission supervises the-e Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians.
President Jonathan must put a time line on the activities c: the Task Force. It is not the amount of billions the task force claims to have recovered but how many pensioners on the relevant public sectors have been paid their pensions and gratuities. The president must also strengthen the new contributory pension scheme by allowing for more unions participation in its corporate governance.

ISSA AREMU mni
VICE PRESIDENT NLC