Nigerian Newspapers
Endless pension fraud
The recent alarm raised by the authorities of the National Pension Commission— PenCom—regarding deducted but unremitted pension funds makes me happy and sad in one breadth. Happy because I was the first to express serious concern about the poor remittance practice and dangerous operations of the new pension scheme inaugurated in 2004 ostensibly to remedy the pitfalls of the old pension scheme under the Office of the Head of Service of the federation in a two serial article on this page entitled, “Between PenCom and Pension Managers.” Sad because after that alarm and the furore it generated coupled with the catalogue of stories of fraud and corruption in the old pension scheme as well as the re-assuring response of PenCom to public criticisms and outcry against its poor remittance culture, it came as a shock and agonizing surprise that PenCom should still be complaining of unremitted accrued pension contributions of workers and their employers to their Retirement Savings Accounts–RSAs.
More confounding still is the revelation from PenCom that there are about 146 cases of unpaid benefits earlier approved by the Commission and fraudulent debit of N39 million on some RSAs by a Pension Fund Custodian. Worse still, there are confirmable allegations of phony RSAs with regular remittances to people that are not employees of any organization. Surely, these sort of distressing revelations and disclosures have given a lie to the original intention and claim by the new pension commission that it is impervious to fraud. Now, how would Chinelo Amazu, the new Acting Director-General of PenCom, react to this embarrassing disclosures and revelations, when she had warned, on assumption of office, that nobody should associate her commission with stories of fraud; insinuating that journalists who associate PenCom with fraud may be apprehended and arraigned for libel?
It is either that the PenCom is grandstanding or that it is unwittingly hosting a bunch of fraudulent pension fund administrators in its ranks or that the regulators of the pension funds are downright complicit, corrupt and incompetent. Sometime ago in 2010 or thereabout, the Military pulled out of the contributory pension scheme after allegations of pension irregularities. Retirees still shuttle between their villages in the different and remote parts of the country and Abuja to process their retirement benefits, under the new contributory pension scheme, wasting resources and time, and sometimes even dying in road accidents in a bid to collect their entitlements. Evidently, this is not the stress-free and fraud-proof contributory pension scheme that the PenCom was established and charged to superintend for the convenience and happiness of retirees and their beneficiaries.
It should be recalled that one of the stated objectives of the new contributory pension scheme, sold to the pensionable public at inception, was to expunge all possibilities and perceptions of fraud from pension fund administration in the country; and make access to the fund by beneficiaries at retirement easy and stress-free. The old pension scheme was operated in a way that gave the muddleheaded impression that the fund was deliberately created by government as a pool of cash resource essentially for patronage to its protégés; how-be-it, calculated to delude and lure the alleged beneficiaries to early and instant death, after retirement, as pension was never intended to be paid to deserving retirees. If this impression was never contemplated by pension fund administrators and government, the harrowing experiences of pensioners more than confirm it. Almost every Nigerian family can tell tales of woes regarding pension irregularities and unpaid pension benefits that resulted in early deaths of their aged parents, nieces and uncles. Both government and the affected pensioners were scandalized, traumatized, and at their wits end.
It was to address this concern that the new contributory pension scheme, midwifed as a Daniel come to judgment, was conceived and set up to wipe out all the travails of retirees and make pension fund accessible to beneficiaries without obstacles and complications. Unfortunately, the operation of the scheme, like the one before it, is gravitating to the contrary; thus making the experience of a pensioner, a citizen’s worst nightmare. On top of this, there is news that the PenCom is on forage, call it aggressive drive, for more contributors to the scheme to further swell the pool of funds available to government from the retirement savings of the nation’s workers.
With conflicting and confusing signals such as these, it is suspect whether the operators of the scheme really have the welfare and happiness of the pension contributors in their equation. It seems more certain, by the day, that PenCom is more on a forage; call it aggressive revenue drive, to swell the pool of funds available to government, rather than any genuine concern about the safety of contributors’ funds or the welfare, convenience and happiness of retirees.
People who have worked and served the country all their lives should have unfettered access to their pension contributions with the same speed that shareholders get their cheques from the Stock Exchange and the Central Security Checking System—CSCS, within three days of instruction to their stock brokers. All the bottlenecks that make pensioners to travel to Abuja several times in pursuit of their entitlements are deliberate administrative designs to prevent retirees from accessing their benefits and thus accelerating early death for pensioners. People are too weak at retirement to fight government and its obstructive bureaucracies; and this is what has given impetus to pension fund administrators and their regulators to exhibit more interest in generating revenue from pension contributions, rather than a willingness to allow contributors to enjoy the fruit of their labor
A society that wishes to re-assure its youth and avert anarchy should desist from treating its aged citizens as trash. Pensioners are treated by government and pension fund operators as trash. It is a national embarrassment and disgrace for a country’s senior citizens to be so treated. The time to put an end to this national embarrassment and disgrace is now.
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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: National Mirror Newspaper
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Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Kamaru Usman has raked in a mammoth £1.1million, about N584.2 million after his impressive knockout victory over Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night, Sportivation.com.ng reports.
The Nigerian Nightmare has been handsomely rewarded for his stunning performance and he was the best-paid fighter on the card which was witnessed by 15, 000 fans in Florida.
According to Daily Mail, Usman earned £538,000 to show up, £459,000 pay-per-view bonus, a £43,000 sponsorship bonus and a well deserved £35,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Jorge Masvidal also earned £358,000 to show, £186,000 in pay-per-view money and a £28,000 sponsorship bonus.
This is the biggest payday of Usman’s career so far and the Welterweight champion also benefited from the fact that Masvidal is also a top draw for the fans.
Kamaru Usman is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler.
Sourced From: Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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