Mrs Dahir-Umar, DG PenCom
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR–The National Pension Commission (PenCom), on Saturday alerted Nigerians of moves by unnamed persons to smear the commission and its Director General, Mrs Dahir-Umar in their quest to bring the commission into disrepute.
This is even as the commission said in a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, National Pension Commission, Abdulqadir Dahiru, that the campaigns of calumny against it were the handiwork of mischievous people, adding that
no amount of blackmail and mischief will deter her and the commission from their responsibility.
She also disclosed that the Commission is ready to open its books for scrutiny because it has nothing to hide.
The Statement reads”PenCom is aware of a coordinated 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).”
“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”.
