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Pension: ICPC probes N90 billion alleged fraud
- By Boco Edet - posted on Monday 17th August 2009 Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is probing Pension Fund Managers over an alleged N90 billion fraud.
ICPC is investigating how this money meant to pay the arrears of pensioners was allegedly misappropriated.
The anti-corruption commission said yesterday a group of retirees in the health sector have claimed N81 billion released by the Federal Government to pay pension arrears in September last year is yet to be accounted for.
The retirees who petitioned the pension fund administrators also said an outstanding N9billion was still owed pensioners since 2000. According to group, the Federal Government had released N13billion but only N4billion was paid at the time.
ICPC is verifying claims that an undisclosed Insurance company, officials of Ministry of Finance in the Budget Office and others in the Ministry of Health were defrauding the pensioners.
The agency’s Resident Consultant (Media & Events), Folu Olamiti confirmed it was investigating the case after receiving the petition. As at December, 2008, pension fund asset accumulated to an estimated value of N1.1 trillion with contributions for federal government employees reaching N247 billion as at February, 2009. So far, N70 billion has been paid to 11,513 employees that retired between July 2007 and February 2008.
A senior official in the commission said yesterday, “the petitioners said they were convinced that the huge amount budgeted annually by the government for Health pensioners which have amounted to billions from 1992 till date, have been passing through illegal fraudulent transactions between the Budget Office, Accountant General office and the Insurance Company with which they alleged the two offices have been conniving to perpetrate the fraud.’’ “They alleged further that the fraud had been perpetrated on the guise that the officials involved have been investing the huge sums of money so far released by the federal government for settlement of pension arrears, an action they termed as illegal and criminal,” the official said.
According to the source, ‘’The petitioners also claimed that despite the huge sum allocated by the federal government in the budget of the current year, no one among them has been paid a penny, where as no official of government had bothered to explain the where about of their arrears.’’
ICPC has been asked to verify the total pension fund budgeted for health pensioners from 1992 up to 1997 when the regulatory instrument for payment of pension arrears was put in place and determine the exact amount so far collected by the Insurance Company.
News Source: Daily Trust
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