The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is set to recover over N1.3 billion in unpaid pension contributions owed to retired journalists by media organisations across Nigeria.
This was revealed in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the commission’s management following a visit by PenCom’s Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, to the Nigerian Press Council (NPC).
During the visit, Oloworaran raised concerns over the alarming level of disregard for the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014) within the media industry.
She disclosed that PenCom and the NPC have entered into a collaborative partnership aimed at urging newspaper establishments to clear their backlog of pension liabilities.
”The PRA 2014 mandates that employers remit monthly pension contributions into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) no later than seven days after salary payments.”
The PenCom boss lamented that several media outlets had consistently failed to comply with this legal obligation, prompting the commission to deploy recovery agents tasked with auditing the debts and enforcing compliance, including the imposition of penalties.
She emphasized that journalists, as champions of public accountability, deserve financial dignity after retirement and urged media owners to lead by example by honoring their pension obligations.
Oloworaran also appealed to the Nigerian Press Council to amplify the campaign for pension compliance in the media space, warning that failure to contribute regularly could push many retired professionals into poverty.
”Pension is a vital component of our social security system, and even the government has begun to take it more seriously,” she said.
Responding, the NPC Executive Secretary, Dr. Dili Ezughah, assured the commission of the council’s full support in tackling the crisis.
Ezughah pledged to engage key industry stakeholders, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, to draw attention to the negative consequences of unpaid pensions on the welfare of journalists.
He described the situation as a pressing challenge that must be urgently addressed to protect the rights of media workers.
The PenCom chief has recently intensified enforcement efforts through strategic alliances with regulatory bodies, seeking to retrieve billions in unremitted pension contributions from defaulting organisations.
