The Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has set a Committee to probe the immediate past administration for its failure to remit over N5.779 billion of the 7.5 per cent employer/employee deduction under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The deduction was made on behalf of the state Universal Basic Education Board and the local government councils in the state.
The governor said this on Tuesday when he declared open the sensitization workshop on effective pension management and administration in the State.
Bello said a Committee has been set up to recover the missing funds.
The Governor, who was represented at the occasion by his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Ketso, pointed out that after a forensic auditing of the transactions of the CPS between 2007 and 2015, “it was established that the sum of N5.779 billion was clearly verified as funds not remitted to the pension board”.
The Governor therefore said that the state government has set up a committee to be chaired by the deputy governor to ensure that the stolen pension funds are recovered for the benefit of workers in the state.
The governor further assured the pension contributors in the state that no stone will be left unturned in ensuring that every deducted money since the introduction of the scheme in 2007 till date is accounted for and applied to judiciously.
He however described as unacceptable “the misappropriation of the benefits of workers who have worked hard and saved for the rainy days”.
Bello said: “This administration regards pension matters and the welfare of pensioners and retirees as significant aspects of our social responsibility to the people especially those who have paid their dues.
“It is in this regard that we have paid attention to the sector by releasing over N2.6 billion for the payment of outstanding pension and gratuity liabilities in the state despite the policy challenges inherited.”
In an earlier remark, the Director General of the Niger State Pensions Board, Mallam Usman Tinau Mohammed, said the activities of the Board has been computerised in order to “discourage fraud and cases of missing files”.
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