DG’s appointment: Osinbajo trails Buhari, violates PenCom Act

.Names Doherty from S’West to replace Anohu-Amazu from S’East in contravention of Act

.Stakeholders call for reversal of appointment, urge NASS to stand by provisions of PenCom Act

Like President Muhammadu Buhari, the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has again violated the Pension Reform Act 2014 by appointing his kinsman from South West, Mr. Funso Doherty, to replace Dr. (Mrs.) Chinelo Anohu- Amazu, who was yet to complete her tenure as PenCom Director General (DG) before her sack.

This is even as stakeholders who spoke to The Daily Times on Sunday called on the National Assembly to resist attempts to rubbish Nigeria’s retirees’ savings in PenCom through manipulation of its books and destruction of its governance structures.

Doherty’s appointment, they maintained should not be endorsed by the National Assembly, urging that the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 be strictly adhered to in the appointment of successor to Dr. (Mrs.) Amazu.

President Buhari had on Thursday, April 13, 2017, sacked the substantive Director General of the Commission, Dr. (Mrs.) Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, from the South East geopolitical zone and replaced her with his kinsman, Mr. Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman from the North, a different geopolitical zone, in contravention to the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014.

But while the appointment of Dikko and other members of the commission was yet to be submitted and confirmed by the Senate as required by the Pension Reform Act 2014, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in a move many saw as yielding to the criticism trailing the appointment of a replacement for erstwhile Director General of the Commission, Dr. (Mrs.) Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, named Funso Doherty as the new Director General of PenCom.

As a result, stakeholders in the industry on Sunday called on Acting President Osinbajo to reverse the appointment of Doherty. They urged him to adhere to the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 by naming someone for the South East to replace Anohu-Amazu, adding that non adherence to provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 portends dangerous signals in the industry.

They also called on the Senate to stand by the Pension Reform Act 2014 and ensure that the government does the right thing, at least by appointing someone from the South East to complete the tenure of Anohu-Amazu.

Following the naming of Doherty as substantive DG PenCom, cross section of Nigerians have expressed concern on commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to establishing and strengthening structures to drive the country’s political and socio-economic infrastructure.

This concern has further been heightened with the government’s recent rubbishing of a laid down structure, the Pension Reform Act 2014, with the appointment of Mr. Doherty as the new boss of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), a slap on Pension Reform Act 2014 by the Acting president.

The earlier appointment of Dikko, and now Doherty, according to stakeholders in the industry and other Nigerians, contravened the Pension Reform Act 2014 which in Part V21 (2) states: “In the event of a vacancy, the President shall appoint a replacement from the geopolitical zone of the immediate past member of the office to complete the remaining tenure”.

The development, cross section of Nigerians say, reveals that there could be deliberate target on the retirees savings, which currently is valued at about N7 trillion, and the single institutional investor in the country, going by the manner Amazu was relieved of her job and the consequent appointments.
Barrister Ike Ikeji told The Daily Times in a telephone interview that the idea behind enacting laws and regulations, is among other things, to ensure certainty, orderliness and peace in the society and otherwise leads to uncertainty.

He told The Daily Times that the rule in the Pension Reform Act 2014 is clear and unambiguous as “the reason we have law is to have orderliness, certainty, unambiguity, and openness. It is against the law to do otherwise”.

Ikeji said that the recent appointment of Doherty, who hails from the South-West region of Nigeria, to succeed Dr. (Mrs.) Anohu-Amazu, who was yet to conclude her tenure in office before her sack, was in contravention of the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014.

“It is against the law and should be condemned totally by all. Since it has been put down as law, it must be followed out rightly,” Ikeji said.

The commercial lawyer said that the reason laws are made is to establish structures that will help the society to advance, adding that where such laws are rubbished by those expected to be instruments to uphold law and order, such actions need to be condemned.

Barrister Chucks Nwachukwu, reacting to Doherty’s appointment, called on the National Assembly not to endorse Doherty’s appointment, hence it did not follow the Pension Reform Act 2014.

“The government of the day has shown that it has no desire to respect the rule of law in federal character. By the recent appointment, the government is telling the South East that they are not qualified”.

He argued that the South East ranks highest in University admission and as most educated, yet, it is from the educationally disadvantaged that the government sources its qualified skills.

“The president has been insensitive to the South East, but all these has consequences which is that we can’t always be together as one united country, because there is discord and delusion and there are costly consequences to all these as a nation”.

Nwachukwu added that the appointment by the of Doherty from the South West by the Acting president, in place of a qualified person from the South East as provided by the PenCom Act shows that the government which is supposed to promote unity, is fueling discord.

“We have seen governments where people in power woo and win the confidence of those who did not vote for them in election, but the reverse is the case in Nigeria. It will lead to a head someday, when the people will regret their actions”.

Meanwhile, research shows that Mr. Funso Doherty is the Managing Director/CEO/CIO of Value Alliance. He has over two decades of experience in investment management. He was the Pioneer CEO and CIO of ARM Pension Managers.