CPS: Phony employers remit only employees' deductions

Chuks Udo Okonta 

Some employers have continued to devise fraudulent means to subvert the pension law as they now only remit the eight per cent deductions from their employees leaving out their 10 per cent.

Inspen gathered that this new twist poses great challenge to the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and pension operators who are fighting assiduously to tackle the menace of non-remittance of pension deductions by employers.

A pension operator who would not want to be named, told Inspen that some phony employers do deduct the stipulated eight per cent from their employees’ salaries, and fail to add their own contributions and remit them to the concerned Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).

The Compliance Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension, Idu Okwuosa, who is not happy with the low level of adoption by employers of labour, urged them to embrace the scheme to ensure secure future for their employees. She attributed the low level of adoption to failure of employees to demand their pension rights.

"If your employers are not paying your pension, the employees being the whistle-blower, must notify the PenCom. Some are even deducting it from workers' salary without remitting, which is fraudulent," she said.

She appealed to Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders to lodge complaint to either PenCom or PenOp, if unfairly treated. She equally charged employers to cooperate more with pension operators to ensure that, not only are they registering their employees under the new pension scheme, but that pension allowance deducted from workers salaries are remitted to the concerned PFAs as at when due.