Reps c’ttee threatens to issue arrest warrants on PFAs, others

Henry Omunu, Abuja

Chairman of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the activities of PENCOM, Rep. Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma has threatened to issue arrest warrants on pension fund administrators who have repeatedly failed to honour the summons of the committee.

Rep. Agbonayinma made the threat on Wednesday while reacting to a letter by Executive Secretary of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (penOp), Susan Otanye, informing the ad hoc of the inability of the PFAs to appear before the committee today because of prior engagements.

In the letter dated April 2 and addressed to Rep. Agbonayinma, the association said that it regrets to inform the House committee that the PFAs would be unable to attend the scheduled investigative hearing as requested “due to prior industry engagements slated for the same day.”

However, the ad hoc committee chairman accused the PFAs of acting in concert with the faceless association to subvert the work of the committee, vowing that the committee would invoke its powers to issue bench warrants on anyone or organization summoned by the committee to forcefully compel to appear before the committee.

He stated that the ad hoc committee summoned the PENCOM, PFAs, banks, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other relevant stakeholders to testify about the management of pension funds under the contributory pension scheme.

The House member from Edo state wondered how a body not known to the committee and which wasn’t invited can be writing to the committee on behalf of the PFAs that were summoned as individual business entities.

“We never invited Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, but to our greatest surprise and dismay, the association wrote to us of the inability of the PFAs to attend Thursday hearing.

“We believe this is a cog in the wheel of progress; we are only investigating and hasn’t indicted anyone. This to me is an obstruction of justice.

“If they fail to show up, we will have no option, but to apply the law and issue bench warrants to compel them to appear,” he threatened.

Rep. Agbonayinma added that any individual and body that shuns the ad hoc committee’s summons will be issued the arrest warrant, asserting that no one can hold the committee to ransom from carrying out the assignment given to it by the House.