Chairman, DG appointments: Buhari violates PenCom Act

The appointment of the new Chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mr. Funso Doherty, as well as Director General of the commission, Dikko Aliyu Abdurrahman, by President Muhammadu Buhari last week Wednesday is in violation of the Pension Reform Act 2014, The Daily Times checks has revealed.

President Buhari sacked the Board of the National Pension Commission headed by Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu,replacing
Mu’azu with Doherty.

The erstwhile Director General of the commission, Dr. (Mrs.) Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, was replaced with Dikko.

The appointment of Mu’azu, Abdulrahaman and others members of the Board of the National Pension Commission is subject to Senate confirmation, according to the PenCom Act 2014.

President Buhari also named Akin Akinwale, Abubakar Zaki Magawata, Ben Oviosun and Nyerere Ayim as executive commissioners of the Commission.

While Buhari is in order in sacking the Board as well as the Director General of Commission, the Pension Reform Act 2014 specifies who should replace the Board chairman as well as Director General of the Commission in the event of their sack.

Checks by The Daily Times showed that while the erstwhile Board Chairman of PenCom, Mu’azu, a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hails from the North East geopolitical zone, his replacement,
Doherty, hails from the South West, in contravention of the Pension Reform Act 2014.

According to section 21(2) of Pension Reform Act 2014, where the chairman of the Board of the Commission is sacked before the expiration of his tenure, he should be replaced with someone from his/her geopolitical zone.

This, President Buhari failed to do in the appointment of Doherty to replace Mu’azu.

In the case of the erstwhile Director General of the Commission, Dr. (Mrs. Chinelo AhonuAmazu, who hails from the South East geopolitical zone, the section 21(2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 states that in the event of her
sack before her tenure expires, she should be replaced by someone from the same zone.

However, her replacement, Dikko, hails from a different zone, another contravention of the Pension Reform Act 2014.

Checks by The Daily Times also showed that Dikko until his appointment was served as a member of the board of Premium Pensions Limited, whereas the PenCom Act 2014 provides that person to be appointed in such office must have retired three years ahead of the appointment and not have controlling shares in any pension fund, a corporate governance requirement.

Cross section of stakeholders who spoke to The Daily Times on Monday expressed concern on the essence of law when it cannot be adhered to by the authorities that swore to keep to legal provisions.

A stakeholder, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of sanction by the regulatory authorities, said that going by trends in the country, it appears that the rule of law has not been adhered to which further weakens business confidence and ease of doing business in the country.

She said “there are indications that government has their mindsets on issues, irrespective of legal provisions or constitutional provisions and the appointments happen to be one of such issues where the provisions of the Pension
Reform Act 2014, contradicts with government’s expectations”.

She said that the rule of law cuts across court pronouncements, constitutional provisions as well as provisions of other Acts guarding appointments, removal of officers of government parastatals, Ministerial and other agencies as
well as operational module.

Meanwhile, some key stakeholders in the industry differed comment on the issue for fear of attracting sanction from the regulatory authorities.

Others however expressed mixed feelings, adding that though the president has the prerogative to appoint who he
so wishes, but such appointment must follow due process to avoid setting bad precedence.

Mr. Okezie Boniface, a retail Investor and National Coordinator of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN) told The Daily Times that the government exercised its rights to make the appointments based on what it hopes to achieve, but noted that appointments done on basis of party or personal relation, to the detriment of national interest would certainly be counterproductive to majority of the populace.

He wondered why the former Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Dr. (Mrs.) Chinelo Ahonu-Amazu, renowned for her remarkable contributions to PenCom was removed in the middle of her tenure.

He said that the government’s appointments since its inception in 2015 has lacked pure geographical spread on key appointments, unbalanced and devoid of true federal character, saying, “if the man swore to follow constitution,
most of his appointments must by now been reversed”.

He however put the blame on the legislators whose role is to ensure that the President adheres strictly to constitutional provisions and the rule of law.

He said that irrespective of the fact that government’s appointments are based on people that would help deliver government policies to the people and not where one comes from, but where an Act stipulates where the person must
come from, such professional must be chosen from the geopolitical zone stipulated by law.

Okezie said that newly appointed PenCom Chairman and DG, if found to be out of the provisions of PenCom Act, should be revisited or the National Assembly should do the needful by ensuring that laid down procedures are followed at all levels, irrespective of the position.

“But unfortunately, the National Assembly has not been doing anything to this effect, except where it affects
their personal or collective interests”.

He said that is the duty of the National Assembly to always serve as a check on the executive whenever breaches are identified “and then call them to order, and if the executive fails, there are other procedures to adopt towards
ensuring compliance with constitutional provisions or the rule of law”.

However, Lambert Imafidon Adonri, a seasoned broker told The Daily Times in a telephone interview that he
needed time to feel the pulse of the market, before fielding his comment on the issue.

Also, senior staff of the National Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), could not pick a call put across to him on Monday evening, for a comment on the issue.