IN apparent bid to forestall picketing of its office by Trade Union Congress (TUC) , National Pension Commission (PenCom) said it was surprised by the threat over guidelines on voluntary withdrawal from the contribution.
Making its stand known to Nigerian workers who over recent draft proposals on guidelines for unilateral withdrawal from voluntary contribution, the PenCom Head of Communication, Emeka Onuora in a statement, explained that the draft would be presented to stakeholders before ratification.
According to Onuora, the clarification became imperative following the picketing strike by the Rivers State Council of Trade Union Congress (TUC), over the guidelines.
The TUC had issued a statement where it threatened to picket the pension regulatory body, noting that “We will shut down if PenCom changes rules on voluntary contribution withdrawal unilaterally without recourse to the National Assembly.”
TUC noted that guidelines would be contrary to some sections of the Pension Reform Act 2014.
In a swift reaction, PenCom said the provisions in the guidelines do not negate Section 4(3), Section 10(4) or any other section in the Pension Reform Act, 2014 as claimed by the TUC congress.
It said that the guidelines addressed only the taxation of pension fund and not mode of withdrawal of voluntary contributions from RSAs.
The guidelines in making say “any person making voluntary contributions to RSAs in addition to statutory contributions may withdraw up to 20 per cent ofthe balance standing in the voluntary contribution portion not more than once in every four years.
“Subsequent withdrawals shall be based only on additional contributions made into RSAs after the last withdrawal, The balance of 80 per cent shall not be accessed until retirement, En bloc withdrawal of the total voluntary contributions by an RSA holder is not permissible until retirement.”