Pension Assets: Labour Hails PENCOM, Alerts Police On Death Threat

A NEC Member of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and General Secretary of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Comrade Issa Aremu has commended the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for the protection of pension assets through effective supervision
and insistence on sound corporate governance by the operators consistent with the Pension Reform Act 2004 as amended.

He noted that it is through this effective regulation by the Commission under the former Director General, Mr. M.K. Ahmad and the current Director General, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu that First Guarantee Pension Limited in particular has been protected.

The labour leader said organized labour will continue to partner with PenCom management to ensure maximum protection of workers’ pension assets totaling 6.7 trillion Naira.Meanwhile, the labour leader who is also the Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) has alerted the Police and other security agents about a criminal threat to his live by an unknown person.

The labour leader in a statement in Kaduna at the weekend said he has formally written to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotun Idris about the repeated calls by an unknown person threatening to assassinate him for undisclosed reason(s).

He said, the person called him at about 1.30p.m. on Thursday February 2nd 2017 threatening to assassinate him.  The same person he said called again the following day, Friday February 3, 2017 at about 9.00 p.m. with the same threat of assassination.  “I became more conscious after the last call because he claimed himself and his gangs were closely monitoring my movement” Comrade Aremu stated.

The labour leader said he had dismissed the threat as a ploy by some unknown criminal elements.  However, the recent criminal incident which took place at the Head office of First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) in Lagos, informed his decision to formally alert the police about a premeditated attack on him by some known forces.

Comrade Aremu recalled the incidence which took place early morning of Wednesday, 11 January, 2017 when one Nze Chidi Duru erstwhile Vice Chairman of the FGPL in company of armed gunmen invaded the company’s Head Office situated at 65 Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, disrupted the operations and held members of management, staff and customers of the PFA hostage.  “As the Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the company under the supervision of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) with the support of the police and workers-contributors, I performed my responsibilities to restore normalcy in the place. Certainly it is obvious I must have stepped on toes of Nze Chidi Duru in particular and his cronies” the labour leader said.

He went on to state that “following the quick intervention of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) led by me as the Chairman as directed by the regulatory agency (PenCom), the Nigeria Police swiftly intervened to restore normalcy and security in the PFA’s office and Nze Chidi Duru and his cohorts were arrested for further investigation and prosecution.  The repeated death threat-calls have been coming since this restoration of normalcy at FGPL”.

The labour chieftain who is also the Secretary General of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) called on the Inspector General of Police to take urgent measures to ensure his physical protection as well as prompt investigation of the death-threat by whoever is involved with direct search light on Nze Chidi Duru.

First Guarantee Pension Limited is one of the registered Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in the country following the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004 as amended.  The National Pension Commission (PenCom) in exercise of its powers under the Pension Reform Act constituted the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of First Guarantee Pension Limited in August 2011 following the removal of some Directors of the PFA that include Nze Chidi Duru for unsound corporate governance practices which have significant adverse implication for the pension assets under the management of the PFA.

The IMC was given the mandate to superintend over the affairs of the PFA under the direct supervision of the Commission. The fortune of the PFA has since been turned around for better.  Before the Committee came on board in August 2011, First Guarantee Pension’s Net Asset Value (NAV) was 38 billion naira and cumulative losses carried forward was to the tune of 385 million naira. This net figure as it was then almost eroded the shareholder’s fund.  The Interim Management Committee (IMC) has successfully reversed this trend and returned FGPL to profitability.  Today, FGPL’s Net Asset Value (NAV) has moved from #38 billion in 2011 to #130 billion as at December 2016.

This excludes the #20 billion refund to police PFA. The company’s profit has grown from #385 million negative loss to over #3.5 billion profit within the period under review. The Interim Management Committee (IMC) has not only stabilized the operations of the PFA consistent with its terms of reference but added considerable value that has made First Guarantee Pension Limited (FGPL) one of the leading PFAs in the country.