The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said it has realised the sum of N12.52 billion from defaulting employers.
The money was raked in over an 11 year period.
Within the review period, the sum of N12.93 billion was also generated from principal contributions, bring the entire amount recovered in unremitted pension contributions from defaulting employers to N25.45 billion.
Director of Corporate Communications at PenCom, Ibrahim Buwai, made this known during the recently held Annual General Meeting of Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN).
Buwai highlighted the importance of the Pension Reforms Act, noting that the legislation mandates penalties for late remittances, accruing interest at a rate of 2 per cent per month.
He emphasised the nearly equal distribution between recovered principal contributions and penalties, underscoring the comprehensive efforts to enforce compliance.
“The good thing is that all this penalty and principal goes into the individual RSA account.
“Nobody takes a penny, not PFAs, not PenCom, nobody. All these money recovered were for RSA holders and it goes into RSA.
“What you can help us by way of employers is that it is not in their interests not to remit because it is cheaper to remit than not to remit.”
Buwai pointed out two major challenges the commission was faced with, namely: employers failing to remit pension contributions and the lack of proper schedules accompanying remittances to Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), which hampers the allocation of funds to RSA holders.
According to him, PenCom has taken proactive measures to combat these issues, including publicising a list of uncredited remittances and urging concerned parties to ensure compliance.
Reiterating PenCom’s commitment to the safety of pension funds, Buwai assured that the regulatory body maintains strict guidelines to safeguard pension assets. These guidelines, he said, are meticulously designed to protect pension funds against potential investment risks.
“I have to also clarify that PenCom does not partake in investment issues on the pension funds.
“All we do as regulators is that we set out general guidelines as contained in our investment regulations,” he added.
