The Director General (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, stated over the weekend that pension funds have grown over the years and are now worth N5.3 trillion.
According to the DG, the reason for the growth in the funds is due to the security fence built to protect the funds from being diverted into personal use by the managers of the funds. She also explained that the funds had been invested in Federal Government bonds, while dismissing claims that the funds weren’t invested and were lying idle.
Anohu-Amazu said that the Commission had never and will never prevent investing of pension assets into infrastructure development and other sectors, but that such investments must abide by the investment guidelines in the Pension Reform Act, 2014.
“Nobody denies anybody from accessing pension funds for investment, but the guideline must be strictly followed, and majority of those complaining of such denial have not complied with investment guidelines.” Noting that the pension assets were a contribution of workers who have decided to save parts of their salaries as pension in a bid to enjoy these savings after retirement, the PenCom DG said such persons should not be denied their pension benefits when they demand for it, hence, the need to protect the growing assets. Anohu-Amazu said.
Pension assets are made up of the contribution of the savings of salaries of workers who want to enjoy their savings after retirement, the PenCom boss, however advised that people who have their monies tied up in pension funds should not be denied their pension benefits when they ask for it.
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