Anxiety trails resumption of new PenCom DG, Commissioners

In spite of President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of the new management of Pencom which took immediate effect, they (the new management) are yet to resume office.

But the development, Daily Times gathered, is causing disquiet in the commission as the former Director General Mrs Chinelo Anohu- Amazu and her management team have refused to vacate the office almost two weeks after their removal by Buhari.

The inability of the new management to resume is now causing apprehension and anxiety as the loyalists of Anohu-Amazu led management are threatening to shutdown the head office of the Commission if the sacked DG is not reinstated.

The Daily Times had exclusively reported  on its online platform on Saturday that the operatives of DSS raided Pencom office on Friday, following the refusal of Anohu-Amalu to quit office in spite of her removal by Buhari

The new management, appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari and announced by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) were supposed to resume office with immediate effect as directed by the Presidncy.

Thus, the new management team led by Mr Dikko Aliyu Abdulrahman, has Funso Doherty as Chairman; Akin Akinwale, Abubakar Zaki Magawata, Ben Oviosun and Nyerere Ayim as executive commissioners.

Although, the Act establishing PENCOM says the appointment of the Director General is subject to senate confirmation which is yet to be carried out.

A source told Daily Times that the former management team are perfecting plans to frustrate the confirmation of the new DG by the Senate

Daily Times however gathered that the sacked management led by the former DG, only received their letters of termination of appointment on Friday causing stakeholders to worry why the letter was delayed till Friday when the sack was announced almost two weeks ago.

The ex-PenCom DG was said to have continued to give instructions as at Friday April 21,2017 in spite of her sacking by Buhari, arguing that she had not receive any letter to that effect.

Daily Times also learnt that the former DG had connived with some staff at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) who were supposed to deliver the letter of her removal, held it back in order to make her remain in office.

When the DSS operatives stormed the PenCom office on Friday, Mrs Anohu-Amazu was said to have evaded arrest and gone into hiding.

It was further gathered that the the raid by operatives of DSS followed a tip-off by whistleblowers that some top officials of the commission who were relieved of their jobs, were allegedly tampering with vital financial records at the agency, which they (DSS) swiftly moved to avert what they described as “fraud.”

The DSS, acting on the information, swiftly deployed its crack team to post sentry to arrest those behind the nefarious operations.

However, by the time the security agents arrived the PENCOM office Located at Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja,some officials of the commission aiding the illicit alteration of documents were caught in the act.

A security source said those caught in the act would be treated as criminals if the allegations against them were established.

The DSS had directed her (Mrs Chinelo Anohu- Amazu) to appear before the DSS headquarters in Abuja today being Monday, April 24 2017.

Meanwhile, DSS has given reason as to why its operatives invaded the head office of the National Pension Commission.

The DSS said “What we did was to put a standby team at the office to prevent anybody from tampering or altering any document unlawfully or without due process,” the source said.

“We had an intelligence information that some documents are being tampered with, some documents are being signed and back dated at the PenCom office following the announcement of a new management of the commission and we are only being pro-active by ordering all officials there to stop forthwith any action on official documents pending when the new management will assume duty.

But some aggrieved workers of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) have threatened to shut down the Agency if President Muhammadu Buhari did not reinstate the sacked Director-General, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu.

The staff who staged a protest last week, said “Mrs. Anohu-Amazu’s ouster is politically motivated despite the fact that she has turned around the fortunes of the hitherto moribund pension industry which, before her appointment, was growing at a very low rate compared to the immense innovations and international best practices inherent in the pension industry today.”

Nigeria’s pension asset since the enactment of the Act in 2004, stood at 6.5 trillion.

They alleged that the federal government did not follow due process in relieving her of her appointment, saying: “Before the incumbent head of PenCom is relieved of his/her appointment, he/she ought to have been written.”

They lamented that the new appointment “runs contrary to the spirit and letters of Part 5, section 21(1) and (2) of the Pension Reform Act, 2014, and, therefore, it is null and void.”

“Ordinarily and statutorily, the former DG ought to have been written formally by the authorities, but sadly in her own case the reverse is the case.”