The National Pension Commission (PenCom), has kicked against the ongoing amendment on pension in the Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 on Devolution of Powers by the National Assembly.
The Acting Director-General, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the amendment if passed into law, will bring chaos and regulatory arbitrage in the country.
She said acceding to the proposed amendment which allows State Houses of Assembly to enact laws establishing regulatory agencies on pension matters would directly be in conflict with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014 and, therefore, invalid for reasons of its inconsistency with the provision of Section 4(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
She made this known in a position paper titled, ‘Subject of Pensions in the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 on Devolution of Powers,’ made available to journalists in Lagos.
She said the proposed amendment will bring unintended negative consequences that will require another round of tedious constitutional amendment to address.
She noted that the. Pension Reform Act, 2004 as repealed by PRA 2014 has appropriately addressed the issues that the proposed amendment in the Bill No. 3 seeks to address, adding that It only reproduced same issues, thus its needlessness.
She said:” the National Assembly may make laws for the federation or any part thereof.
with respect to the regulation of matters relating to pension and gratuity of federal employees, persons in the public service of the federation, employees of federal statutory institutions and parastatals and other persons, subject to federal regulation including employees of incorporated companies regulated by federal enactments.
“Setting of standards for management of pension matters throughout the federation in respect of workers, whether in private or public employment and making laws for the regulation of pension matters in relation to persons in military service, the police force and other paramilitary and security agencies in the federation.
“The House of Assembly may subject to paragraph 1 hereto make laws relating to the regulation of matters on pension and gratuity of state employees, persons in the civil service of the state, employees of state institutions and parastatals, employees of local governments within the state and other persons subject to state regulation including employees of business enterprises resident within the state and subject to state regulation.”
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