Senate President David Mark yesterday vowed to prosecute key actors no matter how highly placed that participated in the alleged wide spread looting of over N2trillion pension fund in the land. Already some of the funds have been traced to private accounts.
Mark who likened the pension fund to blood money vowed that the Senate would further conduct full scale investigation into the handling of funds in order to expose the true looters of the fund.
Senate has however given the both the Pension Commission (PENCOM) and office of the Head of service 14 days to address the gray areas for the smooth management of the funds. The commission has so far generated N2.4trillion, but the commission yesterday said the period before the introduction of contributory pension scheme was problematic 'and we in PENCOM have no hand in it'.
But the Director General of national Pension Commission (PENCOM) Alhaji Mohammed Ahmad in a swift reaction yesterday absolved the commission from the said fraud, insisting that the agency does not have access to the fund and therefore could not have abuse the fund.
PENCOM boss at a news briefing shortly after his presentation at the Senate public hearing on management of pension fund said that the commission came into operation in 2007 adding that such fraud if any may have taken place when the management of pension was in the hand of the office of the Head of services.
He said the pension fund are remitted to the designated banks and can only be access by the employee 'when he or she retires'.
Alhaji Ahmad said the commission only monitors the pension managers to ensure compliance to the rule.
Meanwhile Mark has said there would be no hiding place for all those that participated in the looting of the pension fund.
Mark who was represented by the senate leader senator Victor Ndoma-Egba decried the high level fraud in the management of pension fund.
He said: "We hear mind-bulging stories about the management of pension fund; we hear that Administrators of pension funds are perhaps among the richest Nigerians. If their wealth is from people's pensions, then, that is blood money. It is blood money. You cannot take away the sweat, the entitlement of an old man or an old woman who is living on that little appreciation from his country and believe that you will be in peace, you cannot because the prayers of those old men and women will not only follow you, it will also follow your children and your children's children.
"Now, if stories that we hear about the administration of pensions is true, I think that relevant agencies must also be investigated and let us begin to bring people to book in this country, we should not stop at hearing stories, they should be investigated. Earlier the chairman of the joint committee on Establishment, State and local government senator Aloyius Etok assured that the senate would at the end of the hearing come up with the most effective mechanism to administer pension fund.
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