New Telegraph

Retirees tackle PTAD, BPE over N8.5bn unpaid pension

 

DEPOSIT

Most government agencies in the past deposited funds with the corporation for the settlement of their pensions and gratuities

 

 

The whereabouts of N8.5 billion pension funds belonging to defunct NICON Insurance Plc is brewing distrust between Pensions Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Bureau of Public Enterprises (PBE) and Association of Nicon Insurance Plc Pensioners, with the latter alleging conspiracy of silence on the part of the two government bodies- BPE and PTAD.

 

The renewed push by the pensioners to reclaim funds they regard as the fruit of their labour is coming 15 years post-sale of insurance firm by the government. The pensioners are currently being owed over 10-month pension arrears by PTAD.

 

Briefing New Telegraph on issues surrounding the N8.5 billion pension, a member of the association, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said non-release of the fund was affecting payment of backlog of pension arrears by PTAD.

 

He said the money was deductions contributed by over 88 agencies including old Nicon Insurance as pension and gratuities for the sole purpose to defray pension of retirees. He said total balance in the pension fund for 88 MDAs at the time Nicon was sold in 2005 amounted to N8.5 billion. Of the amount, N2.33 billion was for Nicon Insurance Plc pension asset.

 

He said: “NICON Insurance was privatized in 2005 based on the audited account prepared by Aminu Ibrahim & co, Chartered Accountants and Deloitte (Akintola Williams Deloitte Chartered Accountants, for the year as at December 31, 2004.

 

“As at that time, most government agencies deposited funds with the corporation for the settlement of their pensions and gratuities of their exiting staff, for proper accounting and documentation, the account was referred to as ‘deposit administration account’, Periodically, statements were issued to the respective agencies.”

 

From the audited account, the balance on this account was N8.58 billion with each of the 88 agencies having its balance.

 

NICON had an in-house pension scheme supervised by a Board of Trustees and Mr. Awa Mmaju was the secretary. NICON was one of the agencies whose funds were in the deposit administration account, as at December 31, 2005, when the corporation was privatized the balance was N2.33 billion. This In-house scheme was essentially to meet the gratuities and Pension obligation to the existing staff.”

 

“However, when it was obvious that government wanted to meet those obligations without references to the fund, the board of trustees in a resolution passed on March 2, 2006 surrendered the funds to the government, through BPE, the privatisation agency that midwifed the privatization process. In connivance with the management of BPE then, the fund is still with the new owners of NICON insurance,” he said.

 

A letter addressed to the Executive Secretary of PTAD by the pensioners, dated September 17, 2020 sighted by New Telegraph is seeking the whereabouts of the fund. In the said letter to PTAD, the pensioners said they had foreknowledge    of what transpired regarding the balance of the fund because some of its members were part of the committee set up at the time.

 

“We are aware of this because we were invited when the case was taken to EFCC by BPE eventually.”

 

“In view of the difficulties you are going through to source for funds for our arrears, the legacy funds with NICON, which was N8.588 billion as at December 31, 2004 should be more than N100 billion by now. We suggest more efforts should be directed to recovering the money from the new NICON,” the letter said.

 

Neither BPE nor PTAD responded officially to New Telegraph’s inquiry on the subject

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