***Says such is a breach of the Pension Reform Act
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has warned the federal government against move to rev up economic growth by unlocking N20 trillion from the nation’s pension funds and other funds to finance critical infrastructure projects across the country.
Atiku gave the warning in the text of his tweet, which was released by his Media office yesterday in Abuja through a press statement.
Advising that the move must be halted immediately, the former Vice President tagged it as a misguided initiative that could lead to disastrous consequences on the lives of Nigeria’s hardworking men and women who toiled and saved, and who now survive on their pensions having retired from service.
He further described the move as another attempt to perpetrate illegality by the Federal Government.
The government, Atiku expressly declared, must be cautioned to act strictly within the provisions of the Pension Reform Act of 2014 (PRA 2014), along with the revised Regulation on Investment of Pension Assets issued by the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
Atiku cautioned that the Federal Government must, in particular, not act contrary to the provisions of the extant Regulation on investment limits which says, “Pension Funds can invest no more than 5% of total pension funds’ assets in infrastructure investments”.
The presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election noted that as of December 2023, total pension funds assets were approximately N18 Trillion, of which 75% are investments in FGN Securities.
He added that there is no free Pension Funds that is more than 5% of the total value of the nation’s pension fund for Mr. Edun to fiddle with.
According to Atiku, “My attention is drawn to a disturbing disclosure by the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, as he addressed State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, 14 May.
“There is, according to the Minister, a move by the Federal Government to rev up economic growth by unlocking N20 trillion from the nation’s pension funds and other funds to finance critical infrastructure projects across the country.
“The Minister has indicated that although “the initiative is expected to attract foreign investment interest over time”, domestic savings are his ‘immediate focus’ for now.
“He provided no useful details, such as the percentage of the funds to be mopped up from the Pension Funds, for example.
“Even at that, this move must be halted immediately! It is a misguided initiative that could lead to disastrous consequences on the lives of Nigeria’s hardworking men and women who toiled and saved and who now survive on their pensions having retired from service.”
