The Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, on Tuesday said that Nigerian media organisations are currently owing over N1.3 billion in unpaid pension contributions to retired journalists.
Oloworaran made the disclosure while leading a PenCom delegation to the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) in Abuja.
She expressed concern over the non-compliance of media establishments with the Pension Reform Act of 2014 (PRA 2014), which mandates employers to remit monthly pension contributions to employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) within seven days of salary payments.
In response to the widespread failure to adhere to these regulations, PenCom has begun working with recovery agents to audit media organisations and assess their outstanding pension debts and penalties.
Oloworaran emphasised the importance of pension contributions as a safeguard against old age poverty, noting that journalists, who play a critical role in promoting accountability, deserve to retire with dignity.
She called on the NPC to assist in advocating for compliance with the pension laws.
The NPC Executive Secretary, Dr. Dili Ezughah, expressed the council’s commitment to supporting PenCom’s efforts in resolving the issue.
He added that the NPC would escalate the matter to key stakeholders, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, highlighting the adverse effects of unpaid pensions on journalists’ welfare.
This move comes as part of PenCom’s ongoing enforcement drive to recover billions in unpaid pension contributions from various sectors, with the media industry now a key focus in these efforts.
Source: The Guardian
