By Mercy Gadia Adi
The face-off between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has deepened, with labour accusing the Commission of shielding the Federal Government over its failure to inaugurate a governing board.
In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, the NLC said PenCom had engaged in “polemics of half-truths, furtive denials and lame excuses” instead of addressing the governance vacuum.
“In one breath, the management of PenCom dismissed NLC’s demands as unfounded. In another, it shifted the blame to President Bola Tinubu. And yet, in another breath, it made excuses for government, claiming that steps have been taken to address the issue,” the Congress charged.
The labour body questioned why the government had failed to disclose “specific steps” taken in the past five years to resolve the impasse.
“This aloofness goes to the heart of the lack of transparency in the management of pension funds. At the root of this crisis is a dysfunctional governance structure stemming from the non-constitution of the PenCom board,” the NLC said.
Labour insisted it would not be silent on an issue affecting workers’ savings.
“We are fully aware of our role in birthing and shaping the current pension system. We do not need a tutorial on this. What we need is a firm commitment that the labours of Nigerian workers are not derailed by the demons of poor accountability and oversight that destroyed the old defined benefit scheme,” the statement added.
The Congress posed a direct question: “What is so difficult in constituting the board of PenCom?”
It warned that PenCom’s admission that government was running workers’ funds without representation was “proof of failure.”
“The management of PenCom should stop the excuses and persuade the Federal Government to do the needful—constitute the board without further delay,” the NLC charged.
“A stitch in time saves nine,” it concluded.