PenCom Speaks On Its DG Spending Millions Of Dollars On Estacode During COVID-19

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has stated that even if its Director-General spends two years abroad non-stop, her estacode allowances would not be up to a million dollars.

The commission made this submission in a statement on Sunday in which it reacted to the allegation that its Director-General, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, was paid “millions of dollars” for estacode during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

PenCom insisted that apart from the outrageous amount claimed in the accusation, it should be recalled that there was a global restriction on international travels during COVID-19 and most airports were closed, hence there is no way its boss could have accumulated such estacodes during the period in question.

It, therefore, described the reports circulating online about money paid into her account as outrageous lies.

PenCom linked the reports to the current jostling for appointments in the country.

It added that those behind the allegation ‘manufactured’ the documents and used non-existent bank accounts to make their claims.

Below is the full text of the press release.

“Management would like to alert the public to the renewed campaign of outrageous falsehood against the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and its Director General, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, over some imagined financial impropriety. Although the promoters of this fiction went to the extent of manufacturing documents and listing non-existent bank accounts to make the fabrication look real, a fiction remains a fiction and can never become the truth no matter how many times it is repeated and recycled.

“It was alleged that the Director General was paid millions of dollars as estacodes for foreign trips she did not embark upon in 2020. This poor attempt at calumny is exposed by the fact that there was a global lockdown in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic during which international travels were restricted. Offices were shut down and most people had to hold virtual meetings. It is, thus, most outlandish to suggest that any government agency would claim to be paying allowances to its officials for international travels when most airports were shut down globally.

“More so, official foreign trips require strict documentation, including air tickets, stamped passport pages and evidence of number of days spent. Rates for estacodes are standardised. If the DG were to spend two years abroad without returning to the country for one day, it would still be impossible for her to claim a million dollars as estacode. The desperate fabricators need to respect the intelligence of Nigerians.

“We are aware of current political intrigues in the country caused by the jostling for appointments, but we believe there are more decent ways of going about it than peddling tales by moonlight and using notorious online outlets to push the lies to unsuspecting readers. The public is implored to ignore these fake documents and the discredited allegations being recycled at the slightest opportunity. The Commission has nothing to hide and will continue to run a transparent and accountable system.”