Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Nine-nine days for the thief, one day for the owner. So goes an adage. For the greedy and corrupt public servants and administrators who have been plundering pension funds with abandon for so long, that day of reckoning appears to have dawned at last. What with the signing into law recently by President Goodluck Jonathan the much-awaited Pension Reform Bill 2014.
Much-awaited? In fact, that’s putting it mildly. Recall that for so long outrage had pervaded every nook and cranny of the country as revelation upon revelation of the unbridled plundering of pensioners’ entitlements emerged every other day. Hundreds of millions, nay billions, of naira meant for payment of benefits for retired workers simply developed wings and vanished into private pockets as if by magic.
As if that hasn’t been terrible enough, the helmsmen of the pension offices and other institutions of government set up to sanitise pension administration went haywire, plundering the funds at their disposal recklessly. So much so that it became veritably evident that something has to be done without further delay. A surgical operation has to be done with a view to stopping the unprecedented pilfering of retired workers’ pension.
That surgical operation materialized in form of a legislation which aspires to block the loopholes that had hitherto made it easy for every Tom, Dick and Harry to recklessly steal pension funds. A pension law that only spells out the dos and don’ts of the scheme but prescribes penalties for violators, including a minimum of 10-year imprisonment for everyone found guilty of embezzlement.
Against the backdrop of the Jonathan administration’s frequently-repeated determination to wage uncompromising battle against graft in general and pension fund thieves in particular, it goes without saying all eyes were on the “landlord” of Aso Rock in respect of pension legislation.
As the National Assembly fine-tuned the Pension Reform Bill and days piled into weeks and months, the poser on most lips was: would the President treat to the bill according to expectations whenever it eventually gets to his desk for assent?
President Jonathan answered that poser in the affirmative last week by assenting to the long awaited law. With this presidential assent, there is no more hiding place for the heartless public office holders who prey on pension funds. The day of reckoning has landed for them and their collaborators. There had been nine days for the pension plunderers; the one day for the owners of the fund has arrived at long last.
The new legislation, contains, some salient provisions. It empowers the National Pension Commission, subject to the fiat of the Attorney General of the Federation, to institute criminal proceedings against employers who persistently fail to deduct and/or remit pension contributions of their employees within the stipulated time.
It also provides that whoever attempts to misappropriate pension funds would, on conviction, be liable to the same punishment as it is prescribed for the full offence.
Among the major highlights of the law are the following:
* The sanctions provided under the Pension Reform Act 2004 were no longer sufficient deterrents against infractions of the law. Furthermore, there are currently more sophisticated mode of diversion of pension assets, such as diversion and/or non-disclosure of interests and commissions accruable to pension fund assets, which were not addressed by the PRA 2004.
*The Pension Reform Act 2014 has created new offences and provided for stiffer penalties that will serve as deterrence against mismanagement or diversion of pension funds assets under any guise. Thus, operators who mismanage pension fund will be liable on conviction to not less than 10 years imprisonment or fine of an amount equal to three-times the amount so misappropriated or diverted or both imprisonment and fine.
*The 2014 Act also empowers PenCom, subject to the fiat of the Attorney General of the Federation, to institute criminal proceedings against employers who persistently fail to deduct and/or remit pension contributions of their employees within the stipulated time. This was not provided for by the 2004 Act (to mention just three due to space constraint).
Given the magnitude of the unprecedented plundering of pension funds over the years, it has come as little or no surprise that stakeholders across the country have been showering encomium on the National Assembly and President Jonathan.
What remains now, obviously, is implementation of the acclaimed law. Will there be faithful, single-minded determination to implement the law, bearing in mind that to enact is one thing, to implement is another? The days, months and years ahead shall tell.