Chinelo Anohu-Amazu: The travail of a pension amazon

By EMEKA EJERE

The sudden removal recently of Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, from the top job of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), came as a surprise to many Nigerians. Her replacement with Mr. Funsho Doherty, a south-westerner in utter violation of the pension reform act further raised even more dust, with many calling for either her reinstatement or appointment of a south-easterner to complete her five-year term.

Although the recent leadership changes by the Federal Government (FG) affected 23 of its agencies, the removal of the Director-General (DG) PenCom, and her team seems to generate more controversy.

A peep into the Pension Reform Act, 2014 revealed that in the event of the resignation, death or removal of PenCom DG, a replacement should be appointed from the geopolitical zone of the out-going helmsman, who would then complete the tenure.

Section 21 (2) of the Act stated: “In the event of a vacancy (for the chairman, DG or other members of board), the President shall appoint a replacement from the geo-political zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.”

Mrs. Anohu-Amazu is from Anambra State, in the Southeast geopolitical zone. She spent two years and five months of her five-year tenure before being removed recently. Going by the enabling Act, Anohu-Amazu is supposed to be replaced by someone from the Southeast, who will complete the remaining part of her tenure of five years. There is also controversy over the circumstance surrounding the removal of Anohu-Amazu and the board.

Section 21 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 clearly spelt out the circumstances under which a member of the Commission will cease to hold office. It listed such circumstances as resignation, expiration of term, death, bankruptcy, conviction for a crime, becoming an unsound mind, disability and outright removal by the president, who would then write the affected person.

Section 21 (j) said a member of the PenCom board could be removed if “the President is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the Commission or public for the person to continue in office and notifies the member in writing to that effect.”

This provision was not met in the dissolution of the PenCom board and removal of the chairman, DG and commissioners, as findings show they were not written before the announcement was made.

Anohu-Amazu’s case is a departure from the norm of staff of organizations celebrating the ousting of their Chief Executives. Instead the staff of PenCom, Nigeria Labour Congress, pensioners, and other industry stakeholders have condemned the action, describing it as waste of 16 years of pension reform, politicization of pension administration, and a breach of Sections 19, 20, and 21 of the Pension Reform Act 2014.

Prior to the pension reform, the Nigeria pension industry was stinking with roguery, mindless looting, incompetence, and unparalleled hardship for pensioners. .

Not only was the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), which promised to pay gratuity and lifelong pension to retirees unrealistic and not working, available funds were allegedly stolen through brazen embezzlement and ghost pensioners, while the real pensioners died of heartbreak, preventable/curable diseases, and hardship.

It was, however, during the privatisation of pubic enterprises under former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the stack realities and burdens of the nation’s moribund pension system dawned on the FG. Every enterprise the government wanted to sell had huge pension deficits.

All the investors wanted the pension deficit removed from their liabilities or have the companies for low price. It was at that point that the then DG of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and Chief Obasanjo, took the initiative that gave birth to the pension reform.

Obasanjo constituted the Pension Reform Committee headed by Fola Adeola, with Mrs. Anohu-Amazu as a member/secretary. The Committee received ideas from various stakeholders, which it combined with global best practices and came up with a Bill that resulted in the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

She received a presidential Letter of Commendation for her service on that Committee. The efficacy of the PRA 2004 showed in lifting the nation’s pension liability from over N2 trillion deficit inherited at the takeoff of the reform, to over N6.5 trillion of assets it boasts of today.

Translating the script

Following the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004, Mrs. Anohu-Amazu was drafted to the pension commission to play key roles in translating the letters and spirit of the Act into action. She served as the Commission Secretary and Legal Adviser.

She was later appointed the Acting DG of the Commission in 2012. Among her major achievements was the innovative leadership and strict regulations and enforcements, which saw to the growth of the pension assets from N2.9 trillion as at her appointment as the Acting DG in 2012 to over N6.5 trillion in 2017.

One of the major steps she took as Acting DG was to get the then President Goodluck Jonathan to activate Section 20 (2)(a) of the Pension Reform Act 2004 in 2013.

The Section, which provided for the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) with an Executive Secretary, was activated to checkmate the activities of the various pension departments.

Another key achievement to her credit was the successful amendment of the Pension Reform Act in 2014. The PRA 2014, properly establishes PTAD and makes it law to directly transmit the benefits of pensioners under the old scheme to their accounts without the involvement of a third party (the Pension Departments).

Other major breakthroughs in PRA 2014 include the creation of new offences regime and provisions for stiffer penalties against infractions on pension law or mismanagement or diversion of pension funds and assets under any guise. PRA 2014 even criminalises attempt to commit an offence and imposes the same penalty as committing the offence.

Also penalties for misappropriation of pension funds have been increased such that operators who mismanage pension funds will be liable to a term of 10 years imprisonment upon conviction and also pay a fine equal three times the amount misappropriated.

PenCom under her watch has shored up the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) subscriptions from 5.39 million to 6.89 million within a period of three years.

Her leadership successfully completed the establishment of PenCom offices in the six geopolitical zones to save Nigerians the stress of travelling all the way to Abuja when they have issues or need to make enquiries on the pension industry.

Her giant strides and global reach helped to open up the Nigerian pension industry to the world. In 2014, Nigeria became the first and only African country to host the World Pension Summit (Africa Special) on the continent.

The event, which brings together over 400 professional investors, and industry stakeholders from five continents, has been additionally hosted by Nigeria in 2015 and 2016 with tremendous impact on the nation’s pension industry.

She was specially invited in 2016 to speak at the World Bank’s 7th Global Pension and Savings Summit in Washington DC to share the story of Nigeria’s pension turnaround, which the World Bank termed “Nigeria: The Pension Big Bang.”

Anohu-Amazu was one of the few high-level experts from Africa appointed as pioneer members of the prestigious London Stock Exchange’s Africa Advisory Group.

It was learnt that the former DG took the President’s drive for foreign investment a notch higher. For instance, at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom she delivered the inaugural lecture of the Scottish Business in Africa Forum (SBIF) entitled, “Pension Funds: Opportunities for Infrastructure Support in the Development of African Economies”.

Because most Nigerians are in the informal sector and are not captured by the CPS, she initiated and completed all the plans to roll out the Micro Pension Scheme before her removal. This will enable artisans, Akara seller, drivers, okada riders, etc. to save for their retirement.

 Condemnation galore

Aggrieved workers of PenCom have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the sack of Mrs. Anohu-Amazu, threatening to shut down the Agency if she is not reinstated “immediately.”

According to a staff who asked not to be named in print for obvious reasons, “Mrs. Anohu-Amazu’s ouster is politically motivated despite the fact that she has turned around the fortunes of the hitherto moribund pension industry which, before her appointment, was growing at a very low rate compared to the immense innovations and international best practices inherent in the pension industry today.

“The pension asset since the enactment of the Act 2004 to 2014 stood at 2.5 trillion in 10 years and the DG within her 3 years short stay has been able to raise the pension assets to 6.5 trillion. A reflection of the indices shows that she has been able to achieve more prior to her appointment as the DG of the commission.

“How can such a proactive and dynamic young manager of people be removed?, he queried.

Industry operators are worried that her sudden removal will “destroy the sector and jeopardise the confidence of pensioners in the system and stifle investors’ confidence in the industry.”

They regretted that “at a time our country is witnessing economic recession, the pension industry has given our financial system a boost by ensuring that pensioners collect their entitlements as at when due; it has also rekindled the hopes and aspirations of workers, investors and shareholders, in addition to growing the economy for the much-needed relief.”

They alleged that the Federal Government did not follow due process in relieving her of her appointment, saying: “Before the incumbent head of PenCom is relieved of his/her appointment, he/she ought to have been written.”

They further alleged that she was being crucified “because she is a woman and from the Southeast geopolitical zone. If not how can a DG that has so much passion for the pension industry and has concluded plans to bring-in the informal sector to be part of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) be removed just like that without looking at her achievements? She should be given a pat on the back instead of removal.

“It is also our belief that some members of a certain cabal whose concern is to feather their selfish interests are taking advantage of Mr. President’s ill-health to feather their nest.”

In an editorial of June 5-9 entitled, “PenCom: Making the law an ass”, this newspaper submitted boldly: “A nation cannot possibly mature into a viable or progressive democracy if its principal public officers deliberately violate the country’s own laws.

“Where do we draw the line between the laws we should obey and those we should ignore? Who should decide when judgment is clownish pronouncements of courts of competent jurisdiction and when they are binding statements of learned adjudicators?

“Flagrant disrespect of the country’s laws, regardless of the persons or institutions involved can only lead to chaos.

“The Acting President has one of two courses of action he could steer (even if lamely) to repair the damage to this administration’s integrity that the Anohu-Amazu debacle has caused.

“The first option open to him to remedy this abuse of constitution is to void the recent appointment and reinstate the erstwhile DG and allow her to complete her tenure or appoint a new DG from the southeastern zone of the constitution consistent with the constitution.

“Not taking any of these paths of honour would underscore the correctness of the agitation of the Southeast about its marginalization from positions of prominence in government.”