TheCable

A bill seeking to exempt staff of the national assembly from contributory pension scheme suffered a setback at the house of representatives on Wednesday.   

Sponsored by Cook Olododo from Kwara, the proposed legislation seeks to amend the 2014 Act to establish the National Assembly Service Pension Board.

The bill was scheduled for third reading but was stepped down following a debate by lawmakers.

The contributory pension scheme (CPS) applies to employees in the public service of the federation, the federal capital territory (FCT), states, local government councils, as well as workers in the private sector.

Employees are allowed to make voluntary contributions into their retirement savings account (RSA) through their pension fund administrator (PFA), in addition to their mandatory pension contributions, for improved retirement benefits.

However, members of the armed forces, the intelligence and secret services are exempted from the scheme.

At Wednesday’s plenary, Bamidele Salami, deputy chairman of the house committee on pension, raised a point of order, saying no public hearing was held on the bill.

The legislator said if the staff of the national assembly are removed from the scheme, it will prompt other government agencies to demand that they too be excluded.

“The committee on pensions has considered similar requests from members of the Nigeria police, customs, immigration, and prisons,” he said.

“The overriding consideration has been that any attempt to exempt certain classes of people from the contributory pension scheme may lead to the collapse of the entire system.

“I do not see the need to exempt the national assembly as it will open the floodgate for different sectors to request a withdrawal from the scheme.”

On his part, Ben Mzondu, a lawmaker from Benue, said the committee requested funds to conduct a public hearing on the bill but received no response from the speaker’s office.

“We make laws for the country. The law before you is coming under scrutiny because the right procedure was not followed,” he said.

“This bill was referred to the committee and we made a request for money for a public hearing; that request has not been granted.”

After the back-and-forth debate by lawmakers, Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house, ruled that the committee on pension should work with Abubakar Fulata, chairman of the committee on rules and business, to work out a solution.

TheCable had reported how the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) kicked against the bil, alleging that its passage will truncate the contributory pension scheme which had over time evolved with assets worth over N14 trillion.