THE Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) has accused the National Pension Commission (PenCom) of paying N7.261 billion to 2,863 unidentified beneficiaries of deceased Federal Government employees in 2022 through different Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).
This was disclosed in the 2022 Auditor-General of the Federation Report seen by Economy Post, which also alleged that the data of the deceased Federal Government employees presented for audit did not include details such as names of the beneficiaries, addresses, places of work, and phone numbers.
Aisha Dahiru Umar was the Director-General of PenCom when the alleged incident took place.
Aisha Dahiru Umar
“Payment of the amount stated above, claimed to have been made to the beneficiaries of the deceased FGN employees for the period under review, could not be veritified as as the said beneficiaries of the decased who received the money were not provided for audit verification by the Commission,” the AGF noted.
The AGF attributed the anomalies to the weaknesses in internal control system at PenCom. The management of the commission did not respond to the AGF’s enquiries before the report was published.
The Nigeria’s chief auditor recommended that the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee compel the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Umar, to account for the N7.260 billion paid to the unidentified beneficiaries while reccovering the money to Nigeria’s treasury.
If she fails to forward evidence of remittance to the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, the AGF recommended that she be sanctioned for irregular payment, gross misconduct, and failure to manage public resources effectively as specified in paragraphs 3106, 3129 and 3155 of the Financial Regulations (2009) respectively.
Non-remittance of N8.157bn
The AGF further accused PenCom under Ms Umar of non-remittance of N8.157 billion operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), disclosing that a “substantive test conducted during the audit revealed that the closing bank balance as of 30th December 2022, after all expenditure incurred were paid, stood at N11,151,232,825.89 (Eleven billion, one hundred and fifty-one million,two hundred and fifity-two thousand, eight hundred and twenty-five naira, eighty-nine kobo.”
According to the AGF, PenCom remitted N763 million into the CRF account as operating surplus for the year, which was merely 8.6 percent of the closing bank balance, as against 80 percent in the sum of N8.920 billion.
“The total outstanding unremitted operating surplus for the year 2022 was N8.157 billion, and non-preparation , presentation and submission of financial statements, together with management account for the period, necessitated the end-of-year closing bank balance in determining the unremitted operating surplus as against the approved template of the Accountant-General of the Federation.”
The AGF noted that the act resulted in loss of government revenue and the inability of the Nigerian government to fund its budget, recommending that the DG should be compelled to remit the money back to the treasury or face sanctions in line with Paragraph 3112 of the Financial Regulations (2009).
Questions around N400m
The AGF further accused PenCom of adopting revised contribution rates for the choice of employees in the commission. The chief auditor alleged that the management of the commission, through its overiding control in the payment of contributory pension to staff, abandoned the statutorily approved rate of between 8 percent and 10 percent for both the employee and the employer and chose to adopt separate rates.
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“The rate of contribution for both the employer and the employee of between 60 percent and 73 percent, and 25 percent and 60 percent, indicated an additional financial burden in the sum of N400,787,689.82 . This act constitutes an additional financial burden on the government’s finances as staff agitate for additional salary or allowances to cushion the effect of over-contribution of oension benefits,” the AGF noted, adding that the computation of the employees’ contribution was only on basic salaries in line with the provision of the Pension Act of 2014.
The AGF urged the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly to compel the DG of PenCom to remit the N400.787 million to the treasury or she be sanctioned.
