Matthew Otoijagha
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said it has recovered N14.38 billion, comprising principal contribution of N7.48 billion and penalty of N6.96 billion outstanding pension contributions from defaulting employers since it engaged the services of recovery agents.
The pension regulator stated this in its second quarter 2018 report, adding that it has maintained the services of 14 recovery agents for the recovery of outstanding pension contributions from defaulting employers.
“Following the issuance of demand notices to defaulting employers whose liabilities had been established by the Agents, some employers had remitted the outstanding pension contributions and the corresponding penalties.
“During the quarter, the sum of N465.02 million representing principal contribution of N335.70 million and penalty totaling N129.32 million was recovered. This brought the total recoveries made to date to N14.38 billion comprising of principal contribution of N7.48 billion and penalty of N6.96 billion,” it said.
Furthermore, the commission noted that in the quarter under review, it received a total of 5,634 applications for issuance of pension clearance certificates, of which certificates were issued to 5,427 organizations, while 2017 firms were turned down due to non-compliance of pension contributions for the appropriate period and non-provision of group life insurance policy for employees.
It posited that N49.31 billion was remitted to the Retirement Saving Accounts (RSAs) of 71,386 employees by the 5,427 organizations to whom certificates were issued.