The management of Trust Fund Pension Plc has denied the publication in some media that N54 billion was stolen in the organization. Speaking at a press conference in Abuja recently, the Company Secretary /legal adviser, Musa Nasr, said that no kobo of the money or titles transferred to them is missing. According to him, there is no way the said sum could have been stolen from them since what they deal with is title documents and stocks and not necessarily cash.

He said that by the provisions of Section 42 of the Pension Reform Act 1004, the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) was mandated to transfer the accumulated pension funds of the Nigeria Provident Fund /NSITF Schemes to a pension fund administrator, adding that in compliance there of, the management of NSITF had in 2006 established the accumulated pension funds transferable to Trust Fund pensions at N54 billion and that the total value of pension funds transferred to/received by their pension custodians to date is N48 billion.

He said that under the Pension Reform Act 2004, pension funds are held by pension custodians, which are separate licensed, entitles, while pension fund administrators only provide administrative and investment management services to the pension funds.

According to him, the pension funds therefore transferred by the NSITF are in the custody of their three pension custodians, Zenith Pension Custodian Limited, Diamond Pension Custodian Limited, and UBA Pension Limited.
Nasr said that Trust fund on its part has continued to provide the necessary investment management and other pension administrative services on these funds under the super vision of the regulators, the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).
He said that a balance of N7 billion pension assists not yet in the custody of the Pension Custodians is due to title regulation and documentation issues which the NSITF management Pencom and trust fund have been working together to conclude.

According to him, it therefore smacks of calculated calumny and a clear lack of understanding of the new pension scheme and a figment of imagination of mischief makers to allege a misappropriation or fraud of N54 billion in any pension fund administrator.
“However, it is a fact the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund withheld certain pension assets which it ought to have transferred to Trustfund, thereby contravening the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2004.

The violations include, holding back for close to two years the sum of N 1.6 billion realized from the sale of pension properties (real estates) and failing to remit the interest income accruing thereon, unilaterally deducting the sum of N373 million from the sale of the pension properties under the guise of expense claims, without the approval of the National Pension Commission, refusing to remit to Trustfund,the sum of N43.6 million collected from the Bureau of Public Enterprise being arrears of pension contributions paid by the BPE on behalf of staff Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria and failing to remit to Trust Fund the sum of N123 million collected from the United Bank for Africa Plc for being repayment by the bank of a fixed deposit trapped with grew defunct City Express Bank”.

He said that on account of the above violations and other series of failed consultations, the National Pension Commission in a letter dated August 27,2005 issued a directive to the management of NSITF to remit the above funds, adding that similarly, on account of the several frustrations suffered by the management and the board in ensuring the remittances of the funds by the NSITF, the finance and General Purpose committee of Trust fund ‘s board in a letter dated September 2,2009 wrote a petition to the chairman of the board of NSITF ,requesting for investigation into the refusal of the NSITF management to remit the pension funds due Trust fund.
He said that it should be noted that Chief Joe Okoli who was the managing director of the NSITF was at the time also the chairman of Trust Fund and therefore, superintended the activities of both organisations.