Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an
\nopen letter to President Muhammadu Buhari urging him to use his “good
\noffices and leadership position to urgently instruct the
\nDirector-General and Board of the National Pension Commission [NPC] to
\nuse their statutory powers to stop the 36 state governors from borrowing
\nand\/or withdrawing N17 trillion from the pension funds purportedly for
\n‘infrastructural development.'”<\/p>\n
The governors last week reportedly proposed to borrow around N17
\ntrillion from the pension funds after receiving a briefing from the
\nKaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, who is the Chairman of the
\nNational Economic Council Ad Hoc Committee on Leveraging Portion of
\nAccumulated Pension Funds for Investment in the Nigeria Sovereign
\nInvestment Authority [NSIA].<\/p>\n
But in a letter dated 5 December 2020, and signed by SERAP deputy
\ndirector Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Allowing the
\ngovernors to borrow from pension funds would be detrimental to the
\ninterest of the beneficiaries of the funds, especially given the
\nvulnerability of pension funds to corruption in Nigeria, and the
\ntransparency and accountability deficits in several states.”<\/p>\n
SERAP said: “It is patently unjust and contrary to the letter and spirit
\nof the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Pension Reform Act,
\nand the country’s international anti-corruption and human rights
\nobligations for the Federal Government and state governors to repeatedly
\ntarget pension funds as an escape route from years of corruption and
\nmismanagement in ministries, departments and agencies [MDAs].”<\/p>\n
SERAP expressed “serious concerns that the proposed borrowing by the 36
\nstate governors from the pension funds would lead to serious losses of
\nretirement savings of millions of Nigerians.”<\/p>\n
The letter copied to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister
\nof Justice Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, read in part: “This proposed
\nborrowing faces the risks of corruption and mismanagement, and would
\nultimately deny pensioners the right to an adequate standard of living
\nand trap more pensioners in poverty. Rather than devising ways to
\naddress pensioner poverty, governments at all levels would seem to be
\npushing to exacerbate it.”<\/p>\n
“Allowing the governors to borrow money from the pension funds would
\namount to a fundamental breach of constitutional provisions, the Pension
\nReform Act, and Nigeria’s international obligations, as well as
\nfiduciary duties imposed by these legal instruments on all public
\nofficers to prevent pension funds from unduly risky investments, and to
\nensure transparency and accountability in the management of pension
\nfunds.”<\/p>\n
“We would be grateful if your government would indicate the measures
\nbeing taken to instruct the NPC to stop the 36 state governors from
\nborrowing and withdrawing any money from the pension funds within 14
\ndays of the receipt and\/or publication of this letter.”<\/p>\n
“If we have not heard from you by then as to the steps being taken in
\nthis direction, the Registered Trustees of SERAP shall take all
\nappropriate legal actions to compel your government to implement these
\nrecommendations in the interest of millions of Nigerian pensioners.”<\/p>\n
“It would also be very difficult to hold state governors to account for
\nthe spending of pension funds, as states have persistently failed to
\naccount for the spending of public funds including security votes.”<\/p>\n
“Transparency is a key instrument in the spending of any pension fund
\ninvestment, as it is necessary to ensure the accountability of the
\nfunds. However, several states routinely claim that the Freedom of
\nInformation Act is not applicable within their states.”<\/p>\n
“Pension funds should not be used to make up for the failure of
\ngovernments at all levels to cut the cost of governance, and the
\npersistent refusal to reduce wastage and corruption in MDAs, as well as
\nfailure to obey court orders to recover life pensions collected by
\nformer governors and their deputies, and public funds collected by
\ncorrupt electricity contractors who disappeared with the money without
\nexecuting any power projects.”<\/p>\n
“Many state governors have repeatedly failed to pay workers’ salaries
\nand pensions; several states are failing to pay contributory pension.
\nTherefore, allowing state governors to collect a windfall of pension
\nfunds at the expense of pensioners who continue to be denied the fruit
\nof their labour would amount to double jeopardy.”<\/p>\n
“Fiduciary duties require public officers to ensure that pension funds
\nare managed solely and exclusively for the benefit of pensioners, and to
\nconsider the socio-economic and human rights impact of pension
\ninvestment decisions on the intended beneficiaries.”<\/p>\n
“Our requests are brought in the public interest, and in keeping with
\nthe requirements of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the
\nPension Reform Act 2014, and Nigeria’s international obligations,
\nincluding under the UN Convention against Corruption, and the
\nInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”<\/p>\n
“Your government has a legal obligation under articles 1 and 5 of the UN
\nConvention against Corruption to prevent and combat corruption
\neffectively, to promote integrity, accountability and proper management
\nof public affairs and public property, including pension funds.”<\/p>\n
“Public confidence and accountability in public administration are
\ninstrumental to the prevention of corruption and greater efficiency.
\nArticle 10 requires Nigeria to take measures to enhance transparency in
\nits public administration relative to its organization, functioning,
\ndecision-making processes, and\/or other aspects, including pension fund
\ninvestment. Nigeria has ratified the convention.”<\/p>\n
“Under section 85 of the Pension Reform Act, pension funds and assets
\ncan only be invested in accordance with the regulations set by the NPC.
\nSection 100 prohibits mismanagement or diversion of pension funds.
\nTherefore, the proposed borrowing by governors from the pension funds is
\nimplicitly inconsistent and incompatible with the letter and spirit of
\nthe Act, and with Nigeria’s international obligations.”<\/p>\n
“Several states have also failed to observe Convention No 29 on Forced
\nLabour and other international standards on the right of workers to the
\ntimely payment of salaries and pensions. Borrowing from the pension
\nfunds is also implicitly inconsistent with the right to work recognized
\nby various ILO instruments and article 6 of the International Covenant
\non Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Nigeria is a state
\nparty.”<\/p>\n
“The right to work is essential for realizing other human rights and
\nforms an inseparable and inherent part of human dignity. The governors
\ncannot on the one hand fail to pay workers’ salaries and pensions while
\non the other hand proposing to withdraw money from pension funds.”<\/p>\n
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari urging him to use his “good offices and leadership position to urgently instruct the Director-General…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n