The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, resolved to probe the administration of the Retirement Saving Accounts, RSA, and ordered the recovery of the N10 trillion allegedly loaned to the Federal Government.
This followed the unanimous adoption of a motion sponsored by Rep. Aliyu Misau, PDP-Bauchi State, at the Tuesday plenary.
The lawmaker had insisted that the Retirement Saving Accounts, RSAs, are the lifelines of pensioners after retirement and lamented their inability to access their retirement funds in spite of fulfilling their own obligations towards the contributory pension scheme.
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Misau condemned the failure of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, and the Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, to reassure the workers on prompt payment of their entitlements after retirement.
He said: “Aware that the pension fund assets which PenCom regulates, being the proceeds of the contributory pension scheme and returns on investment, stood at more than N15.5 trillion at the close of the first quarter of 2023.
“There is no justification for retirees not to have access to their RSA; worried that critical stakeholders have expressed concern that 65 per cent of the funds which amount to N10 trillion, loaned to the Federal Government is an investment which exposes the contributors to unnecessary volatility as the Federal Government may fail to pay back the loan in due time.
“Being unable to access their pension has caused untold hardship to the retirees as they are unable to afford even basic necessities.”
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The House urged PenCom to ensure that funds for the payment of pension are released immediately so that all retirees in the country would be paid.
Ruling in the matter, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who presided o er the plenary, directed the House Committee on Pensions to find out the state of things with the pension fund assets worth over N15.5 trillion.
Kalu explained that this was in order to ensure that the N10 trillion the Federal Government reportedly borrowed from pension funds is duly recovered and to evolve strategies to ensure the survival of the scheme.
Additionally, the deputy speaker directed the committee to unravel why the PFAs are not fulfilling their obligations to retirees.
