The Nigeria Labour Congress has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stop excuses and inaugurate the board of the Pension Commission.

NLC disclosed this in a statement by its president, Joe Ajaero, on Wednesday.

This comes amid reports that Pencom and Tinubu’s government are yet to inaugurate the board of Pencom.

Reacting, Ajaero, in a statement, said the non-constitution of the Pencom board showed a lack of transparency on the part of the federal government under President Tinubu.

NLC insisted that the federal government has erred in the management of workers’ pension funds.

“Perhaps what Pencom failed to tell us are the specific steps taken by the Federal Government to address the issue of non-constitution and inauguration of the Pencom governing board for more than five years.

“This aloofness goes to the heart of the lack of transparency in the management of pension funds. At the root of the crisis of transparency in the management of pension funds in Nigeria is a dysfunctional governance architecture stemming from the non-constitution of the pension governing board. If the management of Pencom wants the public to ignore this grave misnomer, the leadership of the NLC will not, regardless of overflowing patronage.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress is fully aware of its strident role in birthing and shaping the current pension system in Nigeria. We do not need a tutorial on this. All we need is a commitment from the Federal Government that the labours of Nigerian workers through trade unions to develop a virile contributory pension scheme are not derailed by the demons of poor accountability and oversight that destroyed the old defined benefit scheme. What is so difficult in constituting the board of PenCom?

“Having conceded without humility that the government has gravely erred by administering workers’ funds without working-class oversight through representation in the PenCom governing board, the management of PenCom should go above polemics of excuses and invest its energy in persuading the Federal Government to do the needful—constitute the governing board of the Pension Commission without further delay?

“The Nigeria Labour Congress will never shirk from its duty of holding the government to account on the management of public trust, particularly workers’ funds. It is simply too dangerous and gravely costly to be silent when a democratic government obstructs representative governance. “A stitch in time saves nine,” NLC stated.

This comes amid unofficial reports that President Tinubu has appointed Opeyemi Agbaje as the new Chairman of the National Pension Commission (Pencom).

The NLC had threatened to embark on a strike over the non-constitution of the PenCom board and issues related to the diversion of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF.

 

Stop excuses, inaugurate Pencom Board — NLC tackles Tinubu