By Sunday Ani
A group of civil society organisations led by Centre for Public Accountability have dragged the Director General (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Uman, before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), over allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
In a petition signed by Comrade Olufemi Lawson and submitted to the anti-graft agencies on Monday, a copy of which was made available to the Daily Sun, Lawson said their action followed earlier calls by other patriotic Nigerians and groups, including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), on President Muhammadu Buhari to set up an investigative panel to probe the activities of the Pension Commission.
They want the EFCC and the ICPC to conduct an investigation into allegations of corruption, particularly as it relates to funds received by the PENCOM boss from the agency for foreign trips and courses, which she never attended.
Part of the petition reads: “We hope to also intimate you with the facts that after collecting those funds, Aisha Dahir-Umar, hid in her Abuja residence, or somewhere outside Abuja for a few days and returned to work, pocketing tens of millions of Naira and several sums in foreign currencies.
“This act of corruption was recently repeated a few weeks ago, when she received over N40 mllion for a foreign trip, which she never attended.”
The groups further urged the anti-corruption agencies, to carry out an audit of payments made to the PENCOM boss for foreign courses, requesting for attendance certificates, air tickets and boarding passes, as proof of attendance.
They called for a thorough and credible investigation into the allegations by the anti-graft bodies, without minding whose ox is gored.
