. As Commission denies N3m monthly pay to staff
Angry workers have dragged the National Pension Commission (PenCOM) and its chairman before the National Industrial Court (NIC) in Abuja, over alleged denial of salaries and unlawful labour practices.
The workers, numbering 20, who filed the suit on behalf of themselves and others employed by the Commission in March 2017, are challenging the Commission and its chairman before the NIC on the grounds of unlawful restraint from performing their statutory functions after engagement and refusal to be paid salaries and other entitlements.
In the suit filed by their lawyer, Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the claimants, who were said to have been employed since March 2017, resumed duties at the Commission but were later prevented from performing their statutory duty after the resumption.
A copy of the court processes was made available to journalists yesterday in Abuja.
This comes even as PenCom, on Saturday, denied a claim that the least paid employee on its payroll receives a monthly salary of N3 million.
The workers are seeking the Court order directing the Commission to pay them forthwith their salaries, arrears, and allowances from the date of their employment till when the judgment of the Court is complied with by the Commission and the same to be calculated using the Commission’s Salary Structure for its employees.
Workers’ plea
Meanwhile, in their originating summons, the workers are seeking the Court order directing the Commission to pay them forthwith their salaries, arrears, and allowances from the date of their employment till when the judgment of the Court is complied with by the Commission and the same to be calculated using the Commission’s Salary Structure for its employees.
The claimants also sought a declaration that “having regard to the provisions of Section 28 and 29 of the Pension Reform Act 2014, Regulations 040102 and 130105 of the Public Service Rules, the failure of the Commission to pay them their salaries, arrears, allowances and promotion from the date of their employment till date is an unfair labour practice, discriminatory, ultra vires and in violation of the provisions of the PENCOM Act and the Public Service Rules.”
The workers also seek an order of injunction directing the Commission to immediately promote them to their rightful position in the Commission based on their employment with the Commission.
“Another order restraining the Commission from further harassing, intimidating, threatening the employment of the Claimants or restraining the Claimants from performing their statutory function in the Commission as Staff of the Commission,” the claimants demanded.
In the suit marked, NIC/ABJ/188/2022, Counsel to the claimants, Samuel Ogala, of Falana & Falana’s Chambers, formulated three legal questions for determination by the court, as to whether, “having regard to the provisions of Section 28 and 29 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 the Claimants by virtue of their Offer letters and acceptance are public servants and employees of the Commission.
“Regard to the provisions of Section 28 and 29 of the Pension Reform Act 2014, Regulations 040102 and 130105 of the Public Service Rules, the Claimants being staff of the Commission are entitled to be paid their salaries, arrears, allowances and receive their promotion in the Commission in accordance to what Is applicable to other officers of equivalent rank in the Commission.”
The Commission and its Chairman are the 1st and 2nd defendants respectfully in the suit, for which October 13 has been fixed for mention.
From our understanding, it appears someone calculated all staff costs, including training, staff exit benefit scheme, and employer’s pension contribution, and divided the total by the number of the Commission’s employees and concluded that the least paid employee is on a monthly salary of N3 million.
Workers’ salaries
Regarding the monthly pay to workers, the Commission, in a statement signed by its management said its highest paid employee earns less than N1 million, contrary to the information of the least being paid N3million per month.
PenCom insisted that the information is false in its entirety and a mischief being peddled in some traditional and social media.
The statement reads: “Following the false and misleading information on the compensation package of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) being circulated in the traditional and social media, it has become necessary to set the record straight in the interest of the Nigerian public.
“It is being alleged that the least paid PenCom employee earns a salary of N3 million per month. This has fuelled all sorts of false allegations and unfair insinuations. The public is invited to note that the claim is absolutely false. The highest paid official of the Commission earns less than N1 million a month. It is therefore completely illogical and improbable that the least paid will earn a monthly salary of N3 million.”
The Commission explained that the misleading information must have relied on a calculation of all staff costs, including training, exit benefit, and its pension scheme, which were not the same as staff salaries.
The statement continues: “We understand that there is an element of mischief and possible blackmail on the Commission’s compensation package.
“From our understanding, it appears someone calculated all staff costs, including training, staff exit benefit scheme, and employer’s pension contribution, and divided the total by the number of the Commission’s employees and concluded that the least paid employee is on a monthly salary of N3 million. There is a clear difference between staff cost and staff salaries.
“It is imperative to point out that right from the inception of the Commission in 2004, the Federal Government mandated the Board to adopt an employee compensation policy that favourably compares to comparator government bodies in the financial services sector, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“Section 25(2)(b) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 also empowers the Board of the Commission to fix the remuneration, allowances and benefits of the employees.
“More so, the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector headed by the late Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of the Interim National Government, made a number of recommendations which guide the PenCom Board in its compensation review exercises.
“One of the recommendations is that the pay structure of self-funded agencies should be benchmarked with their private sector comparators so as to ensure relativity in such agencies and attract and retain high-calibre professionals.
“The Shonekan Committee, which was set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, also recommended that the pay structure of regulatory agencies should be benchmarked against sectors they monitor to avoid regulatory capture, and that an annual increase in pay should be undertaken to account for inflation/cost of living adjustment and establishments may strive to attain 50th percentile and above their comparators in the private sector.”
PenCom also said it “made all these facts known in a recent submission to the House of Representatives Committee on Finance over the compensation package of the Commission. We also stated that the last compensation package review was done in 2017 with the approval of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
“No review has been done in the last five years and this has affected the ability of the Commission to attract, hire and retain staff with competitive skills.
“The public is, therefore, implored to ignore the false and mischievous information on the staff compensation package. The Commission has nothing to hide and will continue to run a transparent and accountable system.”
