President Bola Tinubu has chosen Ms. Omolola Bridget Oloworaran to be the new Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). However, some lawyers believe this choice does not follow the laws that set up the pension system.
These lawyers, who spoke to Newslodge, think Ms. Oloworaran might not meet the strict rules needed to lead PenCom.
Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Adviser, announced that Ms. Oloworaran is “a finance and banking expert with many years of experience”.
She will take over from Aisha Dahir-Umar.
Before she officially starts, the Nigerian Senate must confirm her appointment. The presidency hopes she will bring strong leadership to PenCom, which oversees pensions in Nigeria.
Oloworaran’s Work History
Oloworaran is indeed very experienced in finance and banking.
Newslodge discovered that she has over 15 years of experience in financial services.
Before her new role at PenCom, she was a senior employee at FirstBank Nigeria, leading the Transaction Banking Operations since June 2019, as her LinkedIn profile shows.
Her profile at FirstBank also shows that she is a Deputy General Manager, Group Head, at First Shared Services.
Before working at FirstBank, Oloworaran was at Stanbic IBTC from January 2016 to June 2019, where she led the International Business Center, handling international banking and developing global business connections.
From November 2013 to January 2016, she was the Head of Global Market Operations.
Oloworaran also worked as a Consultant at FDHL Group from May 2013 to November 2013, giving strategic advice and solutions.
Earlier in her career, she worked at Renaissance Capital from March 2008 to April 2013 in several roles, including Finance Manager and Senior Specialist.
From 2004 to March 2008, she worked in Treasury Operations at Citigroup.
This shows that Oloworaran has many years of experience in finance and banking.
What Does the Law Say About Appointing the Director-General of PenCom?
The running of PenCom is guided by the Pension Reform Act 2014.
Section 26 of this act talks about how the Director-General and Commissioners are appointed.
This section states that the President must choose someone who has at least 15 years of experience in pension matters to be the Director-General.
The law says,
“A Director-General for the Commission shall be appointed by the President, but must be confirmed by the Senate.”
(2) The Director-General shall-
(a) Be the chief executive and accounting officer of the Commission;
(b) Be responsible for the daily management of the Commission;
(c) Keep the books and records of the Commission;
(d) Have a relevant and adequate professional qualification in pension matters with 15 years of experience.
Oloworaran’s career does not seem to show 15 years of experience in the pension field.
What Nigerian Lawyers Say About the Pension Reform Act
Public interest lawyer and TV personality, Barrister Frank Tietie, told Newslodge that Section 26 means the Director-General should have a background in a pension-related field.
He said anyone who has not worked in a pension fund administrator (PFA) or a pension fund custodian (PFC) does not qualify to lead PenCom.
Tietie said,
“Someone with experience in legal work, banking, or insurance, which are related to pension, cannot be said to have the needed experience in pension matters. According to Nigerian case law, pension matters involve issues of workers’ contributions or company contributions to help retired workers. This is not related to banking, which deals with money management. Therefore, someone who has not managed retirement funds but has been in banking does not have close experience with pensions.”
He concluded that appointing a banker as DG PenCom is wrong and expects the Senate will not confirm it.
“If the Senate approves the appointment, it shows the Senate is merely agreeing with the President without proper consideration,” he said.
Barrister Maxwell Opara also told Newslodge that appointing someone without 15 years of experience in pension matters as PenCom DG can be taken to court.
He emphasized that only someone with pension experience should lead the Commission, not a banker.
He added that this development can be challenged in court because the President cannot override the Pension Reforms Act.
“President Bola Tinubu is breaking the law because the woman did not appoint herself. The appointment does not follow the Pension Reform Act, and the President is doing this on his own,” he said.
Lawyer Chief Festus Ogwuche told Newslodge it is illegal for the President to appoint someone without fifteen years of pension experience as DG of PenCom.
He said the pension law requires one must have a solid background in dealing with pension funds.
“The conditions in the Pension Reform Act 2014 were put there for a reason. The President cannot ignore the law and make appointments as he pleases,” Ogwuche added.
He said the President’s power to appoint, according to Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution, must follow other specific laws made under the same Constitution.
“Even though the Constitution allows the President to appoint anyone, more specific job qualifications are needed. If the President ignores the detailed laws, the appointment does not stand,” he said.
A pension expert, who wanted to stay anonymous, also supported the law, saying the appointee should have worked in the industry. However, Oloworaran’s resume does not show this.
“Her entire career seems to be in banking operations, and people who worked with her don’t recall any pension experience,” the source said.
Previous PenCom DGs and Their Experience with Pension Laws
Aisha Umar was the most recent DG of PenCom.
She was part of the Pension Reform Committee in 2003, under the Bureau of Public Enterprise.
In the same year, she served as Deputy Director and Head of the Human Resources Department at the BPE and later became a Deputy Director in the Monitoring and Compliance Department.
When the National Pension Commission (PenCom) was set up in 2004, she started as Deputy General Manager in 2005 and worked there until she became the Director General fifteen years later.
President Muhammadu Buhari submitted her name for Senate confirmation on September 29, 2020.
Anohu-Amazu, a lawyer, started as an Adviser at the Bureau of Public Enterprises in 2000. She was also a member of the Pension Reform Committee in 2004 that brought in the Contributory Pension Scheme.
She helped restructure and privatize various companies including Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, Nicon Hilton Hotel, and AfriBank. She became the pioneer Commission Secretary/Legal Adviser of PenCom the same year.
She became the Director-General of the Commission from October 2014 to April 2017.
Mr. MK. Ahmad was the first DG of PenCom, serving from December 2012 to December 2014. He had 35 years of experience in public sector organizations and financial services in Nigeria.
Ahmad had roles at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the Central Bank of Liberia, and was an Independent Non-Executive Director at MTN. He also held various Board positions.
His pension experience was mostly with PenCom. However, the Pension Reform Act 2014 was not in place when he was appointed.