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As the National Assembly and the Presidency sheath the sword and work towards resolving their differences, it’s expected that the unresolved issue of the power of the lawmakers to confirm the appointment of some political appointees will take the front burner soon.
Among those calling for immediate attention are confirmation of the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the newly appointed deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The appointment and confirmation of the Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) is also seen by industry watchers as another appointment that should attract the attention of both the executives and the lawmakers. This is because the savings of Nigerian workers both retired and working are involved. In all, a whooping N7.2 trillion is involved and this should not be toiled with.
The appointment of the Director General of PenCom has generated a lot of controversies since President Muhammadu Buhari removed Chinelo Anohu-Amazu from the position without any reason.
Shortly after Anohu-Amazu was removed, the Presidency appointed Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman as new DG of the Commission. Following the outcry that greeted the appointment as the law required that only a Nigerian from her Geo-political zone who have not had any appointment in the pension industry within three years prior to or after the appointment could be appointed to replace her, the government reversed itself on the appointment.
While President Buhari was away in London, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo appointed Funso Doherty as Director-General of PenCom. Doherty is from South-west and not South-East as required by the PenCom Act. It would be recalled that Doherty was first appointed as the chairman of the board of PenCom.
Since then, the post of DG of PenCom has remained vacant. Pension industry watchers told BusinessDay weekend that their expectation is that the peace-move by the executive and legislature would lead to the appointment of a new or return of Anohu-Amazu to her job. However if the Presidency decides to appoint a new DG, he or she must come from the South-East as required by law to make way for peace and progress in the pension industry.
The previous appointments did not go down well with many people including experts in the pension and lawmakers. They described the appointments as absolute breach of the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2014.
According to them, the actions of the Presidency contravenes the provision of the Act which provides that the nominee for the position of the Chairman or Director General of PenCom cannot be a shareholder or staff of any Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), within three years before or after his/her appointment.
A legislator who spoke to BusinessDay on condition of anonymity, insisted that the appointment of Abdulraham or Doherty as Pencom DG was in breach of the Pension Reform Act 2014.
Other lawmakers also contended that the appointment of critical agency such as Pension Commission should not be politicised to avoid loss of public confidence in a sensitive sector which takes custody of about N7.2 trillion pension funds belongs to the Nigerian workers.
Citing Section 21(2) of the Pension Reform Act, 2014, a senator from South -East zone, wondered why a replacement was not announced from the same geo-political zone with the sacked DG, in line with the provisions of the Act.
Section 21 (2) of the Act states that: 2014: “In the event of a vacancy (for the chairman, DG or other members of board), the President shall appoint a replacement from the geo-political zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.”
According to the Pensions Act, the Commission’s DG is entitled to five years tenure of office, subject to renewal for another term in office.
The former Pencom DG, Anohu-Amazu is from Anambra State, South East Nigeria, was confirmed by the Senate on the 30th September, 2014 for a five year term, and is expected to end her tenure on the 29th September, 2019.
“In tandem with the provisions of the Act, if at all they wanted to replace Anohu-Amazu, she ought to be replaced by someone from the South- East, who will complete the remaining part of her tenure of five years.
“Section 21 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 clearly spelt out the circumstances under which a member of the Commission will seize to hold office. It listed such circumstances as resignation, expiration of term, death, bankruptcy, conviction for a crime, becoming an unsound mind, disability and outright removal by the president, who would then write the affected person.
“Section 21(j) said a member of the Pencom board could be removed if the President is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the Commission or public for the person to continue in office and notifies the member in writing to that effect.
“This provision was not met in the dissolution of the Pencom board and removal of the chairman, DG and commissioners, as they were not written before the announcement was made.
“The Senate frowns at this act of impunity displayed by the President and we will vehemently oppose the confirmation of the new DG when the President presents it to us,” the senator told our correspondents.
Deputy Senate Majority Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah declined to comment on the issue on the grounds that it is an executive matter
“Honestly, I don’t want to comment on that. It’s purely an executive matter and a legal matter. And unfortunately we are in a country where it is very difficult to speak the truth; more especially when you are in leadership position. So I will rather take the dignified option of maintaining a dignified silence on the matter”.
Anohu-Amazu was reputed to increased pension assets from N2.9 trillion in 2012 to N6.7 trillion in 2017.
Besides establishment of six zonal offices, she also increased the Retirement Savings Account from N5.39million to N7.2million.
