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Tag: pension

  • N195b pension funds still missing, says Senate

    N195b pension funds still missing, says Senate

    The Senate yesterday said the Chairman, Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, has failed to account for the N195 billion pension funds.

    Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Service, Establishment, Local and State Governments, Senator Kabiru Gaya, spoke at the resumed public hearing on the management of pension funds.

    He said they have discovered from the submissions by the Accountant-General of the Federation that N195 billion pension funds were not accounted for.

    Gaya noted that in the Head of Service alone, N139, 056, 523, 955. 20 was released, N100, 641, 106,957. 33 was paid to pensioners with a balance of N39, 783, 682, 993. 00 unaccounted for.

    In the Police Service Pension Office, he said N131.5 billion was released in five years, but only N58.3 billion was paid to pensioners, while N44. 2 billion is yet to be accounted for.

    In Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office, he said N85, 249, 222, 900. 16 was released, NN27, 452, 200, 993.72 paid to pensioners, leaving a balance of N27, 797, 822, 127. 00 unaccounted for.

    In Military Pension Board, he said N317, 609, 082, 566. 05 was released, N294, 076, 743, 532. 87 paid to pensioners with a balance of N23, 532, 339, 034. 00 unaccounted for.

    In the Department of State Service Pension Office, he said N34, 698, 149, 304. 68 billion was released, N9, 413, 090, 416. 00 paid to pensioners with a balance of N26, 121, 394, 662. 63 unaccounted for.

    Gaya said the releases were made between 2005 and 2011 by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

    He said: “This money belongs to the masses and it is expected that it should be accounted for.

    “If everybody is allowed to grab as much as he could get, what are we going to bequeath to our children?

    “Some people feel that because they have godfathers, that no one can bring them to judgment. They should realise that God is watching.”

    The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Aloysius Etok, expressed concern that Maina had refused to honour the committee’s invitation.

    He gave the PRTT boss till 11 am today to appear before the committee or the committee would go ahead to present its report to the Senate.

    “After the submission of our report, the Chairman of Pension Reform Task Team organised several media fora, where he claimed that he, Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina, was not given a fair hearing during the investigation of the management of the pension fund.

    “The issue is that we gave him opportunity for a fair hearing, but he refused to appear before the committee until we issued a warrant of arrest.

    “There is no law that states that if one is sued to court and he refuses to appear, the court will not go ahead to deliver judgment.

    “We went out of our way to issue a warrant of arrest before he could appear before the committee.

    “It was as a result of all these that we now decided to invite him again so that he could have the fair hearing.

    “We want to give Maina the last chance and this committee, which represents the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is saying that whosoever is behind Maina’s arrogance should know that his time is up and the masses want him to account for his stewardship.

    “He should appear before this committee tomorrow (today) at 11 am without fail.

    “If he doesn’t come tomorrow (today), the committee will proceed to hold the public hearing and we will take presentations from the Prison Service, Police and other agencies.

    “We will get all the presentations, make up our case and tell the public what we have discovered in the course of our investigations.”

    The committee also invited the Comptroller-General of Customs, Comptroller-General of Prisons, Chairman of ICPC, Chairman of EFCC, Head of Service, Director of Pension and Director of Police Pension Office, Shaibu Tedi, to appear before it today.

  • Nigeria’s pension fund hits N2.9tr

    Nigeria’s pension fund hits N2.9tr

     

    The country’s pension fund has grown to N2.9 trillion in the last eight years, the Commissioner for Inspectorate in the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Dr. Musa Ibrahim, has disclosed.

    Speaking with reporters on Friday during a strategic meeting with managing directors of licensed pension operators in Calabar, Ibrahim said Nigeria’s pension fund has grown tremendously from 2004.

    He said by the end of this year it will increase to N3 trillion, which he said could be compared to the federal government budget of N4.9 trillion.

    Ibrahim hopes that in the next five years the pension scheme will build up funds that will surpass the federal government’s budget.

    He said the enormous resources are not supposed to cater for only retirement benefits of pensioners but also to boost the real sector of the economy.

    The Director- General of PENCOM, Mr. Muhammad Ahmed, said the strategic meeting between the commission and heads of licensed pension operators became necessary in order to take stock of what the contributory pension scheme has achieved over its eight years of implementation.

    He said that the forum is coming on the heels of the recent recapitalization by pension fund administrators as well as the public hearing on the administration of pensions by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and Local Government Administration, which highlighted the need for more sensitization on the working of the scheme.

     

  • Pension fraud

    Pension fraud

    •The missing local government pension fund must be unearthed

    The news that a whopping N3.3 trillion local government pension fund is missing is shocking and deserves to be investigated. Like many, we are surprised that despite the enormity of this mind-boggling allegation, there has not been a sense of revulsion on the part of government and sense of urgency to investigate the authenticity of the report. We urge the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the alleged missing pension fund. It is a national shame that those put in charge of pension fund have been allowed to turn it to a slush fund.

    According to the report, a member of the Pension Fund Task Force Team made this revelation during a visit to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) headquarters, alleging that this sum was illegally deducted from the pension fund, since 1976. As correctly noted by the chairman of the ICPC, the continued stealing of pension fund is an impending national disaster. The task force team also noted that about 36 billion of the police pension fund has been stolen, alleging that about N300 million is daily pilfered from the fund. While claiming that most of the police fund has been recovered, the official failed to name those who have been sent to jail for this disturbing criminality.

    Indeed, if N3.3 trillion has been pilfered from local government pension scheme, it will be a major national tragedy waiting to happen, when the benefits are due. That amount, which is about two-third of our national budget, represents future entitlements of thousands of potential pensioners, contributed over the years by government, and under the new scheme, also by the workers, for the days ahead. Nobody needs to be reminded what value pension fund represents, considering that it is money meant for one of the most vulnerable members of the society.

    It will not be farfetched to regard the pension fund as blood money, since it represents money meant for decades of sweat and hard work, saved for the proverbial rainy day. Again, the regularity of this stealing also portrays the moral decadence in the society. A situation where it has become a norm for those in custody of such sensitive resources of the state, to freely steal from it, shows the moral degeneracy of the society. It must also be remembered that the new pension scheme is designed to mitigate the challenges usually associated with the inability of the state to meet the pension benefits of its retiring workers. It is totally unacceptable for people who contributed to their pension to be told stories when the time to pay comes.

    The security agencies must therefore quickly investigate the missing fund, and rein in those responsible for it. They must move quickly to ensure that the properties of those behind the scam are sought out and the necessary applications made to the court for an order to confiscate them. The government authorities must realise the potential challenges the pensioners will face down the road, as the contributors retire from service. Indeed, if the government officials fail to safeguard these pension funds, the pressure will be on successive governments to find answers to the problems in the future.

    The expectation then will be for government to pay the pensioners regardless of what happened to the money now. To safeguard the social crisis of that future, those at the helm of affairs must rise up to their responsibilities, and save the future generation the task of paying for what has been stolen by greedy officials of the present generation.

     

  • ‘N300m stolen daily at Police Pension office’

    ‘N300m stolen daily at Police Pension office’

    • Recovered N36bn remitted to Federation Account

    About N300million is looted daily from the Police Pension funds, the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, has said .

    The task force has already remitted N36billion of the recovered funds to the Federation Account.

    Maina while on a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo Nta, said 120 properties acquired with money stolen from the funds have also been seized.

    The commission’s Head of Media, Mr. Folu Olamiti, in a statement, said: “The Reform Task Team said it had covered some grounds in the fight against Pension Funds thieves. It disclosed that it was able to uncover a fraud to the tune of N36 billion within the Police Pension Funds Office, alone.

    “It said it had remitted the whole sum to the purse of the federation, while seizing about 120 properties allegedly acquired with stolen pension funds by the cabals.

    Maina said investigations by members of his team had revealed that the cabals in the Police Pension Office were in the habit of stealing up to N300 million on a daily basis through fictitious cheques prepared in the names of fake pensioners.

    “He said investigations into the Police Pension Office were still ongoing, disclosing that his team had covered 40 percent of investigations into the pension funds scam.

    “A member of the Pension Task Team, who is also a former member of the House of Representatives, Ngozika Ihuoma, told ICPC about similar fraud with Local Government Pension Funds, disclosing that from 1976 till date, a total of N3.3 trillion had been deducted from the funds without proper accountability.”

    The breakthrough recorded by the Pension Task Team on recovery of stolen pension funds is said to have started attracting the attention of the Presidency following a formal invitation extended to the Chairman by the Economic Management Team for special briefing.

    Mr.Olamiti said: “According to Maina, President Jonathan had personally invited the Pension Task Team to brief the Economic Management Team on its achievements so far, most especially the e-pension model the Team had developed to reduce stealing of pension funds across the country.

    “Maina thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and the ICPC for the support both have been throwing behind the Task Team, just as he appealed for further support from the government of Nigeria on how to rid the pension departments in Nigeria of fraudulent cabals.

    “He disclosed that he has continued to receive death threats from those he suspected as Pension funds cabals, recalling the recent mail sent to him, threatening to bomb the office of the Pension Reform Task Team.”

    The ICPC chairman, Nta, said the consistent pilfering of pension funds by officials of government could cause a major national disaster.

    According to the statement, Nta said “since pensioners were in every home in the country, the idea of denying them their rights and entitlements through stealing of their pension could put pressure on the national economy.

    “He observed that the stealing of pension funds easily attracted irreversible curses on perpetrators.

    “He assured the Pension Task Team of preparedness by ICPC to support the fight against stealing of pension funds in Nigeria, promising to partner with the National Television Authority (NTA) and the Africa Independent Television (AIT) in a Special Forum on Pension Funds.”

  • Court adjourns ruling on N32.8b pension scam

    An Abuja High Court has again adjourned till November 6 ruling on an application to quash criminal charges in the N32.8 billion Police Pension Fund scam against three of the six accused persons.

    Justice Abubakar Talba had, on July 17, fixed October 9 for ruling on the motion filed by Atiku Kigo (a former Permanent Secretary), Mrs Veronica Onyegbula (Cashier) and Sani Zira (ICT Officer).

    The trio, who were charged with Esai Dangabar (Director), Ahmed Wada (Director) and John Yusufu (Assistant Director), are workers at the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, but on suspension.

    They were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count charge of conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

    The EFCC said the alleged fraud was perpetuated between January 2009 and June 2011.

    On October 9, the court clerk, Garba Isa, told the accused’s counsel, Ricky Tarfa (SAN) and the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), that the ruling was not ready.

    Isa said the judge had asked the counsel to pick another date for the ruling. They had then picked October 16.

    But on arrival in court yesterday, after waiting for three hours, Isa told Tarfa and Jacobs to pick another date.

    No reason was, however, given for the judge’s absence in court.

    The trio want the court to quash the charges on the grounds that the EFCC has no evidence against them.

    They insisted that there was nothing linking them to the alleged offence.

    Mrs. Onyegbula said the EFCC could not prove to the court that she signed any document from the Pension Office.

    The EFCC, in a counter-affidavit, urged the court to dismiss the application, and said the accused were “employing delay tactics” to frustrate the quick disposal of the case.

     

  • Milliman: Pension plans up $45billion

    Milliman, a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, has released the results of its latest Pension Funding Index, which consists of 100 of the nation’s largest defined benefit pension plans.

    In September, these pensions experienced a $45 billion increase in funded status based on a $30 billion reduction in the pension benefit obligation (PBO) and a $15 billion asset improvement.

    The $45 billion increase in funded status means these pensions have reduced their cumulative funding deficit by $80 billion in the last two months, following a four-month slide of $304 billion.

    “It may be too late in the year to call it a comeback—the funding deficit for these 100 pensions has grown by more than $100 billion in 2012,” said John Ehrhardt, co-author of the Milliman Pension Funding Study. “But two months in a row of funded status improvement is still welcome news. Not surprisingly, the recent deficit reduction was driven in large part by cooperative interest rate movement.”

    In September, the discount rate used to calculate pension liabilities increased from 3.99per cent to 4.08 per cent, reducing the PBO to $1.778 trillion at the end of the month. The overall asset value for these 100 pensions increased from $1.309 trillion to $1.324 trillion.

    Looking forward, if these 100 pensions were to achieve their expected 7.8 per cent median asset return and if the current discount rate of 4.08 per cent were to be maintained throughout 2012 and 2013, these pensions would improve the pension funded ratio from 74.5 per cent to 75.4 per cent by the end of 2012 and to 79.9 per cent by the end of 2013.

  • Ogun pays N1.6b pension to local govt retirees

    Ogun pays N1.6b pension to local govt retirees

    The Ogun Bureau of Local Government Pensions said it has disbursed N1.6 billion as monthly pensions patment to retired local government and primary school workers.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Bureau, Alhaji Ade Momodu, said this last week during an oversight visit by members of the Ogun House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    Momodu said the money was paid between January and September, adding that the money was paid from the monthly allocation the bureau received from the Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC).

    “The bureau has also paid N643.3 million as gratuities to retired local government staff, as well as primary school teaching and non teaching staff between January and September 2012.

    “This was paid from the state’s grant to Local Government Staff Pension Fund and the balance of statutory allocation from (JAAC) after monthly pension would have been paid,’’ he said.

    On the new contributory pension scheme, Momodu said it was introduced to remedy the shortcomings of the old scheme, explaining that a 7.5 per cent deduction is expected to be made from the salaries of all serving officers, while another 7.5 per cent of each officer is expected to be contributed by their employers.

    He said the bureau received 15 per cent deduction of the salaries of primary school teaching and non-teaching staff directly from Joint Allocation Account Committee on monthly basis.

    “The local governments are required to remit their own deductions directly to their pension fund administrators,’’ Momodu said.

    The Committee’s chairman praised the bureau for carrying out its assignment, saying, “I think you have done a good job, but l still want you to always make the collection of pensions easy for the retired local government officers, the primary school teaching and non-teaching staff,’’ Oluomo said.

  • PenCom seeks tax exemption for pension returns

    PenCom seeks tax exemption for pension returns

    The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is seeking tax exemption and strict enforcement of the Pension Reforms Act 2004 to ensure returns on investment of pension funds.

    This, its Director – General, Mohammad Ahmad, said would enhance retirement benefits.

    In a statement, he said though Sections 7 and 10 of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004 provided for tax exemption at the point of accumulation and payment of retirement benefits, it is silent on taxation of income from investment of pension funds.

    “To ensure real returns on investment of pension funds and ultimately enhance the retiree’s retirement benefits, the income earned on investment of pension funds should also be exempted from taxation,” he said.

    “On exemption of Pension Fund from Tax, Ahmed said even though Sections seven and 10 provides for tax exemption at the point of accumulation and payment of retirement benefits, it is silent on taxation of income from investment of pension funds.

    “In order to ensure real returns on investment of pension funds and ultimately enhance the retiree’s retirement benefits, the income earned on investment of pension funds should also be exempted from taxation,” he said.

    The PenCom boss called for the amendment of Section sevens of the Act to include tax exemption on income from investment of pension funds.”

    Chief Executive Officer, IBTC Pension Managers, Dr Demola Sogunle, also said tax exemption should be used by the government to encourage employers to embrace the pension scheme.

    Sogunle said one of the ways the government could assist to ensure the success of the scheme is to engender strict enforcement of the Pension Reform Act 2004.

    He noted that government needs to enforce strict sanctions against defaulting employers, adding that the introduction of the new scheme has induced nation-wide mass saving culture, which allows Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) accumulate assets that can be invested in financial markets.

     

    Sogunle noted that one of the major challenges against the success of the scheme in the private sector is the fact that many employees are yet to register with a PFA, while some employers fail to remit or are defaulting in remitting contributions into their employees Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs).

    “The issue of defaulting poses a major challenge to the success of the contributions pension scheme, since it influences the adequacy of the benefit payments to participants. A lot of enlightenment is required to ensure that employers and employees understand the benefits of keying into the contributory pension scheme, especially as it is mandatory by law,” he said.

  • Rethinking pension scheme

    Rethinking pension scheme

    Governments all over the world get involved in pension matters in the form of laying down the legal framework, pension funds management and regulation of pension schemes. The Nigerian Government is not left behind. It has overhauled the legal framework for pension administration in Nigeria by promulgating the Pension Reform Act 2004 (PRA 2004). The PRA 2004 was passed into Law on June 23, 2004 by the National Assembly and assented to by President Obasanjo on June 25, 2004.  The PRA 2004 embodies the policies of the Nigerian government to solve the pension problem in Nigeria, both in the short and the long run.

    The thrust of the reforms has been in the direction of making the schemes contributory, thus the name Contributory Pension Scheme. Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) defines pension entitlements in relation to stated contributions of the employer and the employee. The CPS is funded in the sense that the contributions and the returns from the investment of such funds provide the resources for meeting the pension obligations. It also aims to bring pension funds under private-sector management.

    A summary of PRA 2004 as contained in Schedule 3 of the Act says PRA 2004  “seeks to establish Contributory Pension Scheme for employees in the Public Service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and private sectors in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” The objectives of the PRA’04, as stated in Section 2 of the Act, are to: Ensure that every person who worked either in the public service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory or the private sector receives his entitlement as and when due; Assist improvident individuals by ensuring that they save in order to cater for their livelihood during old age; and Establish a uniform set of rules, regulations and standards for administration and payment of retirement benefits for the public service of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory and the private sector.

    The essential provisions of the new pension scheme designed to achieve the above objectives include mandatory coverage of all employees in organisations employing five or more persons in both the private and public sectors of the economy; employers and employees each contribute to the pension fund a minimum of 7.5 per cent of total emolument of the employee; an employer shall maintain a life insurance policy for each employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee and, in the event of the death of an employee, his entitlements under the life insurance policy shall be paid into his Retirement Savings Account (RSA).

    Other provisions of the PRA 2004 Act include that the employer and employee contributions shall be tax-deductible expenses in the calculation of income tax liabilities; every employee shall maintain an RSA in his name with any pension fund administrator (PFA) of his choice into which will be paid his pension fund contributions and accrued incomes from investments thereof; PFAs, licensed by the PenCom, are the only institutions to manage pension funds as from the commencement of the Act.; Pension funds and assets are to be held only by pension fund custodians (PFCs) licensed by the PenCom;  the PFA chooses a PFC to which the employer’s and the employee’s contributions are remitted by the employer to the exclusive order of the PFA.

    Under the new pension scheme, it is expected that all incomes earned from investments of pension funds are to be placed to the credit of individual RSA holders after deducting clearly defined and reasonable fees, charges, costs and expenses of transactions made by the PFA and no withdrawals shall be made from the balance standing to the credit of the RSA of an employee except on his retirement or on attaining the age of 50 years (whichever is later) and such withdrawal can be for programmed monthly or quarterly withdrawal calculated on the basis of an expected life span or for the purchase of an annuity for life from a life insurance company licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) with monthly or quarterly payments.

    For public service employees transiting to the new pension scheme, their rights to retirement benefits shall be recognized in the form of an amount acknowledged through the issuance of a bond to be known as Federal Government Retirement Bonds (FGRB) respectively, in favour of individual employees if they have an unfunded pension scheme and Public servants with a funded scheme converting to the new pension system shall have their RSA credited with any funds to which each employee is entitled and, in the event of insufficiency, the shortfall shall immediately become a debt of the relevant employer and be treated with same priority as salaries owed.

    It was also noted that existing pension schemes in the private sector, which resemble the scheme envisaged in PRA’04 would continue to exist; otherwise they would be modified to comply with the PRA 2004. The PRA2004 requires all pension schemes in the private sector to be fully funded. The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) shall cease to take contributions from workers with the commencement of PRA 2004 and shall make arrangements to transfer funds contributed and any attributable income thereof not required for the purpose of administering minimum pension as determined by PenCom, to their RSA accounts.  All pension funds and assets held and managed by NSITF shall be transferred to a custodian, as from the commencement of the Act and Pension funds and assets can only be invested in certain specified instruments. PenCom shall also undertake yearly inspection, examination or investigation of PFAs, PFCs, or the Pension Department to determine whether or not they are discharging their functions as set out in the PRA 2004.

    The benefits of the new pension scheme are enormous. Banks could witness enormous deposit growth from placement of pension funds in fixed deposits and from more regular payment of pension entitlements of existing pensioners. Also, the range of instruments on which pension funds can be invested means that the PRA’04 would boost the demand for saving products developed by banks. The new pension scheme is expected to generate N60 billion in contributions every year, it is expected that the growing and stabl mandatory purchase of life insurance policies by employers for their workforce.  In a few years time, when people begin to retire under the new pension system, the use of accumulated funds in individual RSAs to purchase annuities from insurance companies would also provide another major elixir for insurance business in Nigeria. It is appropriate at this time of expanding opportunities for insurance business that consolidation is taking place in the industry to foster well-capitalized and liquid insurance companies that could settle claims promptly.

    Stock broking firms stand to profit from the higher business volumes which the increased transactions on retirement bonds, corporate bonds and equities consequent upon the higher capital market operations that increased pension funds would engender. Similarly, mortgage and property development firms would experience greater profitable long-term opportunities for their real estates and commercial property development schemes as an increased build-up of pension funds forces pension fund managers to seek more and safer inflation-proof outlets for their funds by investing in these schemes.

    The challenge in Nigerian economy is that government has been financing infrastructure. In most part of the world, pension funds, because they are long term investment vehicles are the best source of investment for infrastructure like power, airport or road. The new pension scheme is a platform that can allow the private sector to take a lead and the government to provide a mechanism that would allow public/private partnerships to finance critical national infrastructure.

  • New pension guidelines to boost equities with N400b

     

    President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Ariyo Olushekun

    The proposed amendments to the pension funds’ investment guidelines may see inflow of more than N400 billion into quoted equities as key stakeholders canvass higher minimum equity investment benchmark for pension fund administrators.
    Total pension asset under administration is around N2.6 trillion, according to recent checks with the National Pension Commission (Pencom). Equity investment by pension fund administrators is estimated at about 11 per cent of total assets under management.
    New amendments being pushed by the National Assembly, stockbrokers, capital market regulators, fund managers and some other interested parties seek to set a minimum equity investment benchmark of between 15 and 25 per cent for pension funds managers.
    The House of Representatives has already adopted a report calling on the PenCom to reverse the current limit for equity investment and replace it with a minimum benchmark of 25 per cent.
    Resolution 28 of the Report of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Capital Market, which was recently adopted, recommended that: in order to deepen the equity market, that Pension Commission should reverse the policy that restricts PFAs from investing a maximum of 25 per cent of their portfolios in equities; that Pension Commission should formulate a policy that Pension Funds Administrators should invest a minimum of 25 per cent of their portfolio holdings in viable equities.
    The report of the Ad Hoc Committee has been forwarded to the Presidency upon request by President Goodluck Jonathan.
    Industry sources said PenCom was already favourably disposed to setting a minimum benchmark of about 10 per cent for equity investment, a move that will mandate many pension fund managers who had taken advantage of absence of a minimum benchmark to hold lesser interests in equities to rebalance their portfolios.
    Stockbrokers have canvassed graduated minimum investment scale that would ensure up to 25 per cent of pension funds are compulsorily invested in equities.
    President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Ariyo Olushekun, said pension fund administrators should be mandated to invest minimum of up to 25 per cent in equities contrary to minimum of 10 per cent being considered by PenCom.
    He also advocated a higher maximum limit of 50 per cent, which would give flexibility to aggressive fund managers to play in the equities market without violating any rule.
    According to him, aggressively managed funds should be able to invest minimum of 25 per cent in equities while medium and short-term funds should be mandated to invest at least 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
    He noted that pension funds as collective assets of the Nigerian people should be used as catalyst for the Nigerian capital market, which would in turn impact on the nation’s economic development.
    Olushekun added that Nigeria’s sovereign funds should be invested in the Nigerian capital market, noting that such funds could serve as stabilizer for the market.
    “It does not make sense for Nigeria to take funds out of its economy and invest in other economies, thus helping other economies to grow. We should invest our funds to develop our own economy,” Olushekun said.
    He outlined the need for government to implement a market-focused recovery plan that would reduce debt overhang, increase liquidity and encourage quoted companies.
    He added that government should reduce tax payable by quoted companies to encourage companies to list their shares, pointing out that taxes such as stamp duty, value added tax (VAT) and contract stamp should be removed.