…says we will not shirk from holding government to account
The Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, has again urged the Federal Government to urgently constitute Boards of labour market institutions particularly those of Pension Commission (Pencom) and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
In a statement signed by Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, on Wednesday, said such a development would ensure that the funds are managed transparently with accountability.
The NLC lamented that despite persistent pressures, the Federal Government had failed to constitute the PENCOM board for the past five years.
The Labour Union, while reacting to the statement by PENCOM management to their earlier statement, said the Union would not be forced to abandon its responsibilities to the Nigerian workers.
“In response to the sustained pressure by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for the Federal Government to constitute and inaugurate the Boards of labour market institutions particularly the Pension Commission (Pencom) and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF),
“The management of Pencom released a press statement which could be at best be described as polemics of half-truths, furtive denials and lame excuses.
“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.
” 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 in the management of pension funds”, the statement noted.
The NLC blamed the current problem on what it described as “dysfunctional governance architecture stemming from the non-constitution of the Pension Governing Board.
“If the management of Pencom wants the public to ignore this grave misnomer, the leadership of the NLC will not, regardless of overflowing patronage.”
The NLC said it is fully aware of its strident role in birthing and shaping the current pension system in Nigeria, adding that ” 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”
“Having conceded without humility that the government has gravely erred by administering workers’ funds without working class oversight through representation in the Pencom governing board, the management of Pencom should go above polemics of excuses and invest its energy in persuading the Federal Government to do the needful – constitute the governing board of the Pension Commission without further delay.”
The Union assured that it would 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!”, NLC stated.
