The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has clarified that it did not overturn a reported N1 billion sanction against Leadway in the first assignment of its Director General, Omolola Oloworaran, while denying working for the Odukale family, founders of Leadway Assurance Company Limited.
The right of reply by the Head, Corporate Communications Department, PenCom, Mr. Ibrahim Buwai, was shared with Nairametrics on Wednesday.
The reaction follows a media report (not from Nairametrics) which claimed that while PenCom penalised both Leadway Pensure and NLPC Pension Fund Administrators Limited (NLPC PFA) financially for their alleged involvement in trading bonds across funds, Oloworaran “overturned the N1 billion sanction against Leadway in her first assignment” as PenCom DG.
The report also accused the DG of favoring Tunde Hassan-Odukale, chairman of a financial institution, where Oloworaran was head of services before her appointment as PenCom DG in 2024, following an alleged “latest PenCom rule change.”
Right of Reply
- In the Commission’s right of reply, Buwai maintained that the allegation that Leadway Pensure PFA had its fine overturned is “blatantly false.”
- The official confirmed that Leadway Pensure PFA and NLPC PFA were both sanctioned for engaging in repurchase transactions in January 2024.
- He highlighted that although these transactions were between funds managed by the same Pension Fund Administrators (PFA), it was determined that a violation occurred due to transacting with pension funds at prejudicial prices, contrary to Section 2.7 of the Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets (the Regulation).
“Consequently, the PFAs were issued administrative sanctions of N72 million and N24 million, respectively.
“In addition, the PFAs were directed to refund into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Funds under their management sums of N1.45 billion and N384 million, respectively, as the computed losses, since the transactions were not conducted at market prices,” he added.
- However, the official clarified that while the refunds had been allegedly substantially paid by the two operators, PenCom received an appeal urging the Commission to reconsider its directive on the amounts to be refunded.
- According to him, the case was made that, in computing the losses to be refunded, the Commission did not take into consideration the gains also recorded in some transactions.
- Buwai stated that following an exhaustive review, it was confirmed that the Commission inadvertently based the computation solely on the losses, rather than taking a net position.
“Accordingly, a revised position revealed that Leadway made gains of N1.1 billion and losses of N1.7 billion, resulting in a net loss of N598 million. In the case of NLPC, a net loss of N83 million was determined,” he added.
- The official explained that on that basis, the amounts to be refunded by both Leadway Pensure and NLPC PFAs were reduced to the recomputed figures stated above.
“However, the administrative sanctions were not reversed, and both operators complied and paid,” he added.
- The official maintained that it is untrue to claim any selective treatment for any imaginary reasons.
- PenCom denied working for Leadway’s Odukale family but affirmed its commitment to the welfare and dignity of retirees across Nigeria.
- The Commission added that its new corporate governance regulation guidelines bring Principal Owners inside the framework, where their influence can be monitored, checked, and ultimately aligned with the fiduciary duty owed to pension contributors.
What to Know
A previous opinion by the Nairametrics Research & Analysis Board noted that one provision in the PenCom Revised Guidelines on Corporate Governance for Licensed Pension Fund Operators has “caught the eye.”
- The guideline allows Principal Owners to remain on the board as Non-Executive Directors even after hitting the regulatory tenure limit, so long as they clear a checklist of conditions.
- On paper, this looks tough and deliberate.
- In practice, it reads like a polite carve-out that says: the rules apply to everyone except you, the Nairametrics Research & Analysis Board opined.
- The board further noted that while Principal Owners already hold considerable sway through their shareholding, keeping them on the board indefinitely is akin to letting the referee also own one of the teams.
The board recommends that allowing Principal Owners to remain on boards beyond the tenure limit undermines the standards these rules were designed to uphold.
