The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has recovered over N11 billion since 2013 from defaulting firms through its (PenCom’s) recovering agents.
The Commission’s secretary and legal adviser, Mr. Muhammad S. Muhammad, disclosed this in at a two-day workshop organized by the commission for finance, pension, insurance, labour correspondents and business editors in Calabar, Cross River State.
Muhammad, who described as “criminal” the non-remittance of pension deductions by firms said the Commission was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure all outstanding contributions were remitted.
“Non-remittance could result from when a company has not been deducting from the beginning. As such, the pension liabilities will accumulate. In a situation like that, the commission’s recovering agents go in to recover both principal funds and the penalty for non-remittance.
“On the other, a situation where employers will deduct money but will not remit, such a company, will be handed over to criminal investigation department for appropriate action,” he said.
Muhammad said the Commission had, in the past, handed over some companies to the EFCC saying the firms were mostly those transiting from the insured pension scheme to the new one.
“You see situations where companies hold on to funds and don’t remit or you have others that will tell you that they have transferred it to insurance companies. Where it is with the insurance companies, we engage the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and they will then take the appropriate measure to ensure the funds are transferred to the Pension Funds Administers (PFAs) and Pension Funds Custodians (PFCs),” he added.
