DG PenCom

By Ngozi Onyeakusi—The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is ready open its books for scrutiny
because it has nothing to hide, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, the Director-General, has said.
In a statement issued at the weekend, Mrs Dahir-Umar said PenCom is aware of a co￾ordinated plan to bring the commission into disrepute with frivolous petitions to the
anti-graft agencies in collaboration with disgruntled insiders.
“These elements, some of whom are yet to come to terms with the fact that PenCom
is no longer at their beck and call, have been sponsoring negative media reports and
getting faceless groups to write frivolous petitions to the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC),” Mrs Dahir-Umar said.
“Although some low-level media outfits are giving a voice to these defamatory
petitions, those who know how we conduct our affairs at PenCom are not in any way
bothered. Since I took over as the DG, we have undertaken far-reaching reforms within
the organisation which are yielding positive results.”
Describing the era of “anything goes” as long dead and buried, she said: “Those who
think they can use the commission to make money or that they should be the ones
calling the shots are bitterly disappointed and are sponsoring false publications and
trumped-up petitions. We will co-operate fully with the agencies. Our message to the
disgruntled elements today is exactly as it was yesterday: we will not allow anyone to
pilfer pension funds for self-aggrandizement. It will never happen under my watch.”
Dahir-Umar added that if PenCom had anything to hide, “we would have surrendered
to the agents of blackmail who have been on our case since 2017 when I became
acting DG”.