The National Pension Commission, PenCom, has enlisted the support of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in the enforcement of relevant pension laws across the country.
The Acting Zonal Head of the National Pension Commission, North Central Zonal Office, Mrs. Raafat Yishawu-Isiaku, disclosed this on Wednesday during a working visit to the Zonal Head, Ilorin Office of the EFCC, Kazeem Oseni.
The two agencies are also collaborating (among other things) in the area of identifying and dealing with cases of non-remittance of pension funds after deductions by organisations in the public and private sectors.
She said that the purpose of the visit was to sensitise the zonal office of the EFCC on the developments in the pension industry, especially the recent Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Transfer System.
According to her, “Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act, 2014 allows holders of RSA account to transfer their RSAs to another Pension Fund Administrator, PFA, once a year, if they so wish.
“In the light of this, we are going round government agencies in the zone to create awareness on contributory pension scheme. We are collaborating with all organizations in this regard. We know the importance of the EFCC. We have been following your activities with keen interest and we can proudly testify to the great work of the Commission, particularly in Kwara. We are proud of the EFCC.”
The PenCom boss described non-remittance of deducted pension funds as criminal, adding that collaboration with the EFCC would assist PenCom to check the trend and enforce the relevant pension laws. She described regular remittance of contributions is an important aspect of compliance with the law.
Responding, Oseni thanked his guest for the visit describing PenCom as a strategic partner.
He said the EFCC would continue to partner with all stakeholders including the PenCom in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.
Suzan O
