The National Pension Commission has described as untrue reports that its lowest ranked employee earns about N3m monthly.

The denial stated that contrary to claims being made by mischief makers, the highest paid official of the Commission earns less than N1m.

According to the statement, “The highest paid official of the Commission earns less than ₦1 million a month. It is therefore completely illogical and improbable that the least paid will earn a monthly salary of ₦3 million”.

The Commission said the circulated report is borne out of mischief and possible blackmail to paint the Commission in bad light before right thinking members of the society. It urged those fanning the ambers of discord to clearly understand the difference between staff cost and staff salaries.

It further said its salary structure is strongly in compliance with comparator government bodies in the financial service sector.

“It is imperative to point out that right from the inception of the Commission in 2004, the Federal Government mandated the Board to adopt an employee compensation policy that favorably compares to comparator government bodies in the financial services sector, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Section 25(2)(b) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 also empowers the Board of the Commission to fix the remuneration, allowances and benefits of the employees.

“More so, the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector headed by the late Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of the Interim National Government, made a number of recommendations which guide the PenCom Board in its compensation review exercises. One of the recommendations is that the pay structure of self-funded agencies should be benchmarked with their private sector comparators so as to ensure relativity in such agencies and attract and retain high-caliber professionals,” it stated.

The Commission further clarified that the details of employees salaries before the House of Representative showed that there has not been any review for over 5 years now.

The statement said, “We made all these facts known in a recently submission to the House of Representatives Committee on Finance over the compensation package of the Commission. We also stated that the last compensation package review was done in 2017 with the approval of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF). No review has been done in the last five years and this has affected the ability of the Commission to attract, hire and retain staff with competitive skills”.

PenCom said its avowed determination is to run an accountable and transparent open door policy devoid of secrecy and shady deeds.