PenCom, Press Council Move to Recover N1.3bn Pension Debt Owed Journalists
By Patience Ikpeme
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed that newspaper organisations owe more than N1.3 billion in unpaid pension contributions for their journalists, raising fresh concerns about the welfare of media professionals across the country.
The Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, revealed this during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) headquarters in Abuja, where she led a delegation from the Commission.
She pointed to widespread non-compliance with the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014) among media organisations as a pressing concern that must be urgently addressed.
To tackle the issue, PenCom and the Nigerian Press Council have agreed to a strategic collaboration aimed at prevailing on newspaper establishments to settle the outstanding pension liabilities owed to their employees.
The PRA 2014 mandates that employers remit pension contributions into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) no later than seven days after the payment of salaries. According to Oloworaran, many media houses have failed to comply with this legal obligation. She noted that PenCom had deployed Recovery Agents to audit erring organisations, determine their outstanding debts, and apply necessary penalties where appropriate.
The PenCom boss explained that the Commission has recently stepped up its enforcement activities, forming partnerships with regulatory agencies to recover billions of naira in unpaid pension contributions across different sectors.
She noted, however, that the renewed focus on the media industry marks the first time PenCom is engaging stakeholders at such a high level to address pension non-compliance within the sector.
According to her, journalists deserve to retire with dignity, given the critical role they play in holding both public and private institutions accountable. She urged media organisations to set the right example by promptly fulfilling their statutory pension obligations to employees.
Appealing for support from the Nigerian Press Council, Oloworaran stressed that pension contributions are a vital safeguard against poverty in old age. “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 Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Press Council, Dr. Dili Ezughah, pledged the Council’s full support in addressing the issue. He said the Council would escalate the matter to key industry bodies such as the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors.
Dr. Ezughah lamented the failure of media organisations to remit pension contributions, describing it as one of the most significant challenges facing the Nigerian media industry today. He assured the PenCom delegation that the Council would work closely with relevant stakeholders to bring lasting solutions to the problem.
The engagement between PenCom and the Nigerian Press Council culminated in the establishment of a joint working group. The team has been tasked with ensuring a speedy resolution of the pension debts and promoting greater compliance with the PRA 2014 across the media sector.
