PenCom Crisis: Workers, Lawyers’ Body Reject DG Nominee, Aisha Umar
Petition Senate over anomaly, alleged corrupt practices
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI, ABUJA – Protestations over President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Ms Aisha Dahir-Umar as the Director-General of National Pension Commission (PenCom) are growing by the day with various groups lending their voices to the rejection calls.
Latest on the list of those insisting that Aisha is unfit for confirmation as PenCom’s boss are angry staff of the Commission and some concerned lawyers, under the umbrella of Otu Oka Iwu (Law Society).
Not letting off the steam, those opposing Ms Umar have taken their agitations to the National Assembly (NASS) demanding the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, to halt ongoing legislative process of confirming her appointment and that of five other Board members of the Commission.
In their petition addressed to Senator Lawan, the aggrieved PenCom workers, on the platform of Pension Workers Advocacy Group, urged the Red chamber to stay further action on confirming the board nominees.
The group’s two-page letter, dated October 6, 2020, said suspending further action on the presidential nominees is the right thing to do in the circumstance in order to resolve all contentious issues arising therefrom.
For them, it is incumbent on the Senate leadership to direct the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters to thread with caution on the confirmation process.
Signed on behalf of the concerned workers by one Alhaji Isyaku Abdulrahman, the petition drew the Senate’s attention to “the Flagrant Violation of Procurement Process, Abuse of office and Criminal Diversion of Public Funds by Aisha Dahir-Umar, Acting Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and her cohorts whose nomination as Director-General was submitted by the president for confirmation by the Senate.”
According to the workers’ submissions, proceeding with Ms Umar’s confirmation would certainly make a mockery of the present administration’s anti-corruption fight, even as they also claimed that; “Her nomination constitutes an affront on the anti-corruption stance of the federal government and transparency in public office.”
In noting the Senate President’s “excellent reputation and antecedent as a fearless, brave and astute politician who cannot sacrifice national values on the altar of greed, avarice and personal aggrandisement”, the petition said; “We, the staff of the commission feel the heat of Aisha Dahir-Umar’s excesses and this has necessitated the formation of this group tasked with whistle-blowing responsibilities in order to ensure transparency, accountability and good governance structures in PenCom.
“Therefore, we reject in totality, her candidacy and are confident that thorough investigations will be carried out by the distinguished Senate on her nomination. There are eminently qualified persons across the nation for the position of PenCom Director-General regardless of ethnic, religious and other orientation.”
Not done with expressing their concerns over Ms Dahir-Umar’s alleged excesses, the petitioners pleaded with the Senate to save from obvious abuse the pension funds, currently put at over N11 trillion
Warning that confirmation of Ms Umar would harm irreparably the nation’s pension industry, the angry staff said; “There is a legacy left by her predecessors and these legacies must not go down the drain. States are doing what they like with the pension laws, amending it at will to suit the interest of state governments and not the workers who are the real targets of the scheme. There is an absence of proper engagements with the states.
“We call for the appointment of a competent professional regardless of ethnic orientation and creed to set us on the path of growth, sustainability and innovation. We believe she has no business directing the affairs of PenCom. We advocate that adequate forensic investigation should be carried out.
“We are insiders and believe that there are more qualified candidates with a track record of proven integrity who can lead PenCom to the next level.”
Similarly insisting that President Buhari’s withdraws the contentious nomination, the Igbo lawyers body,
Otu Oka Iwu, said Dahir-Umar’s nomination breached the 1999 Constitution and the Pension Reform Act 2014.
A statement issued by its President, Joy Nzube-Uzoeghelu, expressed “shock and dismay” at the “flagrant disregard of the enabling law setting up the Commission,”.
The group, which accused the Federal Government of insensitivity to the yearnings of Nigerians, said: “The propensity of the Buhari Administration to ride roughshod over Nigeria’s Constitution and extant laws is a grave threat to the rule of law and to Nigeria’s unity.
“It is deeply troubling that while the President was preaching unity as a hallmark of Nigeria’s 60th Anniversary celebration, he has exhibited an unparalleled level of cronyism never witnessed in the history of our country.”
Maintaining that; “In practical terms, President Buhari has done more to foster centrifugal forces in the country than to promote unity, even as he preaches ‘togetherness’ in commemoration of Nigeria’s 60th anniversary”, the Igbo Lawyers further said; “The latest nomination is yet another infamous example in a landscape littered with consistent lopsided appointments.”
The group said there are strong reasons to assume the Buhari’s administration is driven by mischief or unbridled self-interest, because “there is unquestionable clarity from Section 21(2) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA), 2014 that in the event of a vacancy, the President shall appoint a replacement from the geopolitical zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.”
They argued that instead of Ms Umar, the Director General nominee should come from the Southeast zone to replace former Director General, Ms Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, whose appointment was terminated in 2017 under controversial circumstances and two years to the end of her tenure.
“The nomination equally breaches the 1999 Constitution, the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, Etc) Act and the oath of office sworn to by Mr. President to be fair to all Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic affiliation.
“We call on President Buhari to exhibit the same level of statesmanship and commitment to his Oath of Office and the Pension Reform Act 2014 as shown by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 when he removed then PENCOM Chairman, Mr. Fola Adeola and replaced him with late Chief Wole Adeosun, also from the Southwest zone”, the Lawyers body said.
Alleging “brazen and relentless deployment of state apparati to systematically weed out Igbo technocrats from key government agencies,” the group challenged the Senators to shun any attempt by the Executive arm to use them as “a mere rubberstamp for egregious breaches of the Constitution and extant laws.
“We call on the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters to throw out this provocative nomination, as it is designed to further polarise the country and needlessly heat up the polity.
“There have been a few instances where the Senate has not shown sufficient diligence in its screening process. This is one instance where the Senate and its leadership must assert the independence of this critical arm of government and shake off any perception of being a mere rubberstamp.”
They were however full of praises for Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, whose “principled stand” on the matter, should galvanize the South East Caucus of the National Assembly as well as other lawmakers to remain resolute and resist any attempt to railroad the Senate on this matter in the quest for “justice, equity and fairness.”
Expressing its readiness to resist any attempt to push through Ms Dahir-Umar’s nomination as the PenCom Director General, the Lawyers’ group said; “For the avoidance, we shall not hesitate to activate other measures to vigorously resist any move to trample on the Nigerian Constitution, the Federal Character principle and the enabling law setting up the Commission.”
In submitting Dahir-Umar’s name for confirmation as substantive PenCom’s Director General, President Buhari also requested the Senate to clear Dr. Oyindasola Oluremi Oni – Chairman (North Central); Hannatu Musa – Commissioner (North West); and Clement Oyedele Akintola – Commissioner (South West).
Others are; Ayim C. Nyerere – Commissioner (South East); and Charles Efe Sylvester Emukowhale – Commissioner (South South) as Board members of the Commission.
