BREAKING: Lawyers suggest new Pencom DG does not have 15 years experience stipulated in Pension Act

President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Ms. Omolola Bridget Oloworaran as the new Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), does not align with the relevant laws that founded the pension industry.

This is according to comments from lawyers who spoke exclusively to Nairametrics and suggesting that the appointee may not have met the minimum required to be the head of the PENCOM commission.

Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President, announced on Saturday that Ms. Oloworaran is “a finance and banking expert with many years of experience”.

She will succeed Aisha Dahir-Umar.

While the appointment is subject to the confirmation of the Nigerian Senate, the presidency anticipates a goal-oriented leadership to drive efficiency and superlative performance in the National Pension Commission as the prime regulator of the Nigerian Pension Industry.

Oloworaran’s career stint

True to Ngelale’s words, Oloworaran is a finance and banking expert.

Nairametrics checks showed that the appointee has over 15 years in the financial services industry.

Prior to her PenCom appointment, she was a key figure at FirstBank Nigeria, serving as the Head of Transaction Banking Operations since June 2019 according to information contained in her Linkendin Profile.

However, her profile on First Bank suggest she is currently a Deputy General Manager, Group Head, First Shared Services.

Before her tenure at FirstBank, Oloworaran served at Stanbic IBTC from January 2016 to June 2019, where she led the International Business Center, managing international banking operations and cultivating global business relationships.

Between November 2013 and January 2016, she served as Head of Global Market Operations.

At FDHL GROUP, she served as a Consultant from May 2013 to November 2013, offering strategic insights and solutions.

Her earlier career includes a significant tenure at Renaissance Capital, where she served in various capacities, including Finance Manager and Senior Specialist, from March 2008 to April 2013.

From 2004 to March 2008, she worked at Citigroup  involving in Treasury Operations.

All these attests to Oloworaran’s many years of experience at the finance and banking sector.

What does the law say about Pension DG’s appointment?

PenCom administration is governed by the Pension Reform Act 2014.

Section 26 of the act relates to the appointment of the Director General and Commissioners.

That section stipulates that the President shall appoint an appointee who has 15 years cognate experience in pension matters, as DG.

It states,

“There shall be for the Commission, a Director-General who shall be appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate.

“(2) The Director-General shall-

(a) be the chief executive and accounting officer of the Commission;

“(b) be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Commission;

“(c) keep the books and records of the Commission, and

“(d) possess relevant and adequate professional qualification in pension matters with 15 years cognate experience.”

Oloworaran’s career profile does not show any 15-year stint in pension field.

What Nigerian lawyers have to say about Pension Reform Act

Speaking to Nairametrics in an exclusive interview, public interest lawyer and TV personality, Barrister Frank Tietie said what Section 26 of the Pension Reform Act expressly means is that a DG designate should be working either in an establishment which is a pension fund administrator (PFA) or a pension fund custodian (PFC) .

He said anybody who does not possess cognate experience working as a PFC or PFA, does not qualify to head PenCOM.

What he said,

“Somebody with experience in legal practice, banking, insurance which are closely related to pension, cannot be said to possess cognate experience in pension matters.

“According to the Case Law data of Nigeria, pension matters are matters referring to issues of workers who either make contributions or companies make contributions on their behalf and the way such funds are managed to the extent that they are able to cater to the welfare of retired workers.

“So, it is not connected to banking which is simply an understanding of monetary issues.

“My submission is that a person who has not managed retirement funds but simply have been in the banking sector in managing cash flow between Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial bank, cannot be said to have any close experience to pension.”

He concluded that the appointment of a banker as DG PenCom is an anomaly and the expectation is that the Senate will not confirm it.

“If the Senate confirms the appointment, it then further confirms that the Senate is indeed a rubber stamp Senate, ” he said.

On his part, Barrister Maxwell Opara told Nairametrics in an exclusive interview that the appointment of a person that lacks 15 years cognate experience in pension matters as PenCOM DG, stands to be challenged in court.

He stressed that based on pension laws, only a person with years of experience in pension matters is qualified to head the Commission, not a banker.

He said the development can be challenged in court because the president has no powers to override the Pension Reforms Act that was framed by an act of the National Assembly.

“It is President Bola Tinubu that is breaking the law because the woman never appointed herself.

“The appointment is not in line with the Pension Reform Act. The president is doing this on his own., ” he said.

For Constitutional lawyer, Chief Festus Ogwuche, he told Nairametrics in an exclusive interview that it is unlawful for the president to appoint a person that does not have fifteen years cognate experience in pension matters, as DG, Pencom.

According to him, the pension law stipulates that one must have solid background in that area because it requires  expertise in the administration of pension funds.

“Those conditions in the Pension Reform Act 2014 were deliberately put there by law. You can’t defy the law and say you can do a better thing by making any appointment at your discretion, “ Ogwuche added.

He said the powers to appoint that is vested in the president in Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution, must be subject to other specific laws that are validly made under the same Constitution.

“I know the Constitution is superior, it gives the president powers to appoint Mr X but if you go into the nitty gritty of that appointment, there are further qualifications within the establishments upon which that appointment is anchored that makes further demands for certain professional zest.

“If the president appoints without conceding to that subsidiary law, even though it is inferior, then there is no appointment, as he has not fulfilled the constitutional provisions,“ Ogwuche said.

He was of the opinion that if the president exercises his powers by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, but fails in ensuring that his appointment conforms to the provisions of a subsidiary legislation,  it is deemed as if the president has not appointed.

A pension expert who craved anonymity for fear of being victimized, also confirmed the provision of the law, stating that an appointee should have worked in the industry or garner cognate experience in the industry. However, the resume of Oloworaran appears not to suggest this is the case.

“Her entire career appears to be in operations (banking sector) and people who had worked with her before don’t recall any pension experience”, the source said.

Career stints of past PenCOM DGs vis-a-vis the Pension law

Aisha Umar will be the immediate past DG of PenCom.

She was part of the Pension Reform Committee, led by Mr Fola Adeola, in 2003, under the purview of the Bureau of Public Enterprise.

Same year, she served as the Secretary, Deputy Director and Head of Human Resources Department at the BPE, and subsequently  became a Deputy Director, Monitoring and Compliance Department at the Bureau.

Following the establishment of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) as an industry regulator in 2004, she started as a Deputy General Manager in 2005 and was in the system till her appointment as the Director General, fifteen years later.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, submitted her name to the Senate for confirmation.

Anohu-Amazu, a lawyer, commenced her public service career in year 2000 as an Adviser at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). She served as a member of the Pension Reform Committee that introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme through the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

She helped restructure and privatize the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, Nicon Hilton Hotel and AfriBank.

She was subsequently appointed as the pioneer Commission Secretary/Legal Adviser of the National Pension Commission, same year.

She rose through the ranks to become the substantive Director General of the Commission from October 2014 to April 2017.

Mr. MK. Ahmad is the pioneer DG of PenCom, who served from Dec 2012 to Dec 2014.

He has 35 years of leading and working in various public sector organizations and financial services institutions in Nigeria.

Ahmad had worked as a bank supervisor at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the Central Bank of Liberia as well as served as Independent Non-Executive Director at MTN.

He sat as Chairman, Board of Polaris Bank, Board of Credent Capital Advisory, Board of International Energy Assurance.

His pension experience was mostly with PenCom. Suffice it to say, that the Pension Reform Act 2014 was not operational when he was appointed as DG.