Controversy over N305bn Police pension funds

The purported plas to transfer the N305 billion Police pension funds currently with some of the existing Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs) to the recently licensed NPF Pensions Limited is generating controvery.

The management of the NPF Pensions Limited, our correspondent gathered, has approached the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to facilitate the transfer of the about N305 billion pension assets of Police officers and men currently with other PFAs to it, which PenCom seemed to have granted as the commission developed a transfer programme to last 18 months.

Emeka Onuora, the Head, Communication Unit of PenCom in a statement over the weekend said: “In order to ensure the smooth take-off of the NPF Pensions Limited, the Commission has developed an Operational Framework that will guide the reassignment of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and transfer of records of all Nigeria Police contributors to the NPF Pensions Limited, which would be spread over an 18 month period.

“The commission has engaged and would continue to engage other licensed operators and stakeholders regarding the modalities of reassignment of PINs and transfer of records of officers and men of the Nigeria Police, with a view to ensuring a smooth exercise for the benefit of the pension industry.”

But an operator who spoke under condition of anonymity said the decision should be reconsidered to prevent other federal government agencies from following the tradition of establishing exclusive PFAs for themselves and demanding for their workers contributions.

He said the police should also go through the hurdles of building their PFA like everyone did and not accessing monies that PFAs have invested hugely to secure.

He also explained that police officers should have the liberty to choose the PFAs, adding that those who prefer the NPF Pensions Limited should wait until the transfer window opened.

The statement said the decision wouldn’t hurt the industry as alleged “because the management and custody of pension assets are respectively undertaken by separate licensed operators, namely the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), under the strict supervision of the Commission.”

It added that “although the NPF Pensions Limited will be exclusively for police personnel, every police officer will, in line with section 11(2) of the PRA 2004, be at liberty to transfer to another PFA of his/her choice as soon as the transfer window is opened by the Commission.”