Stop govs from borrowing N17trn from pension funds, SERAP tells Buhari

Socio–Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to instruct the director general and board of the National Pension Commission (NPC) stop the 36 state governors from borrowing and/or withdrawing N17 trillion from the pension funds purportedly for ‘infrastructure development.

The governors, last week, reportedly proposed to borrow about N17 trillion from the pension funds after receiving a briefing from the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who is the chairman of the National Economic Council Ad Hoc Committee on Leveraging Portion of Accumulated Pension Funds for Investment in the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

But, in a letter, dated December 5, 2020, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “Allowing the governors to borrow from pension funds would be detrimental to the interest of the beneficiaries of the funds, especially given the vulnerability of pension funds to corruption in Nigeria, and the transparency and accountability deficits in several states.

“It is patently unjust and contrary to the letter and spirit of the 1999 Constitution (as amended]), the Pension Reform Act, and the country’s international anti-corruption and human rights obligations for the Federal Government and state governors to repeatedly target pension funds as an escape route from years of corruption and mismanagement in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).”