NLC Urges FG to Constitute PenCom, NSITF Boards, Rejects Excuses

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government to immediately constitute and inaugurate the boards of key labour market institutions, particularly the Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), stressing that continued delay undermines transparency and accountability.

The call followed a recent press statement by the management of PenCom, which the NLC described as “half-truths, furtive denials, and lame excuses.”

NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in a statement on Tuesday, faulted PenCom’s response, saying it dismissed workers’ concerns in one breath while shifting blame to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in another, and at the same time claiming the Federal Government was taking steps to resolve the issue.

“What PenCom failed to tell Nigerians are the specific steps the government has taken to address the non-constitution of its governing board for more than five years. This aloofness goes to the heart of the lack of transparency in the management of pension funds,” Ajaero stated.

He noted that the absence of a functional governing board has created a “dysfunctional governance architecture” and raised accountability concerns over the management of pension contributions.

According to him, the NLC, which played a leading role in shaping the contributory pension scheme, will not stand by while workers’ funds are managed without proper oversight.

“All we need is a commitment from the Federal Government that the labour of Nigerian workers will not be derailed by the demons of poor accountability and oversight that destroyed the old defined benefit scheme. What is so difficult in constituting the PenCom board?” he queried.

Ajaero urged the management of PenCom to redirect its energy from “polemics and excuses” to lobbying the Federal Government to “do the needful.”

He warned that the NLC will continue to hold the government accountable, insisting that silence in the face of such governance lapses would be “too dangerous and gravely costly.”