PenCom decries unfounded allegations against Director General.

By: Afolabi Oyekunle.

The Management of National Pension Commission (PENCOM) says the allegations of financial impropriety against the Commission and her Director General Mrs. Aisha Dahir- Umar is

false, unfounded and mischievous.

A statement by the Commission said it was alleged that the Director General was paid millions of dollars as estacodes for
foreign trips she did not embark upon in 2020.

The Commission said although the promoters
of the fiction went to the extent of manufacturing documents and listing
non-existent bank accounts to make the fabrication look real, a fiction remains a fiction and can never become the truth no matter how many times it is repeated and recycled.

The Commission said this poor attempt at calumny is exposed
by the fact that there was a global lockdown in 2020 because of the COVID-19
pandemic during which international travels were restricted and offices were shut down and most people had to hold virtual meetings.

“It is thus, most outlandish to suggest that any government agency would claim to be paying allowances to its officials for
international travels when most airports were shut down globally.”

It said more so, official foreign trips require strict documentation, including air tickets,
stamped passport pages and evidence of number of days spent rates for estacodes
are standardised.

“If the DG were to spend two years abroad without returning to the
country for one day, it would still be impossible for her to claim a million dollars as estacodes, it said.”

The Commission said the desperate fabricators need to respect the intelligence of Nigerians.

“The Commission said though it is aware of current political intrigues in the country caused by the jostling for
appointments, but there are more decent ways of going about it than
peddling tales by moonlight and using notorious online outlets to push the lies to
unsuspecting readers.

“The public is implored to ignore these fake documents and the
discredited allegations being recycled at the slightest opportunity. “

The Commission said it
has nothing to hide and will continue to run a transparent and accountable system.