PenCom Recovers N422.34m From 23 Defaulting Employers In Q1 2022
Aisha Dahir-Umar, PenCom DG
National Pension Commission (PenCom) said it has recovered through its recovery agents the sum of N422.34 million from 23 defaulting employers in the first quarter of 2022.
According to the first quarter 2022 report of the pension industry released recently by PenCom, appointed recovery agents realised from 23 defaulting employers the sum of N422.34 million, out of which N124 million represents principal contribution, and N295.45 million was penalty.
Through appointed recovery agents, the defaulting employers are made to pay unremitted contributions alongside accrued interest and penalties, which figures show doubled the principal amounts.
The report for the fourth quarter of 2021 showed that the appointed recovery agents realised N984.23 million from 36 defaulting employers, representing N406.42 million as principal contribution and N577.87 million as penalty.
The results reflect higher penalties for defaulters, and most times double, according to industry analysts who are keenly looking at the figures.
Section 11 (6) of the Pension Act 2014 states that any employer who fails to remit the contributions within the time prescribed shall, in addition to making the remittance already due, be liable to a penalty to be stipulated by the commission.
The penalty, according to the pension law, shall not be less than 2 percent of the total contribution that remains unpaid for each month, or part of each month that the default continues, and the amount of the penalty shall be recoverable as a debt owing to the employee’s retirement savings account as the case may be.
Out of N13.9 trillion of total assets under management recorded by the PFAs at the end of March 2022, Federal Government bonds accounted for 58.7 percent or N8.16 trillion, according to figures from PenCom.
The commission said the framework would give PFAs more investment outlets and encourage the diversification of pension fund portfolios.
PenCom said innovative solutions had been required to address the dearth of investment outlets and encourage the diversification of pension fund portfolios.
It said: “One of the asset classes with the lowest asset allocation by pension funds is PE. This asset class has remained significantly below the maximum limits of 10 percent for Fund I and 5 percent for Funds II & VI Active, respectively.
