The Director-General (DG) of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, has said newspaper organisations in Nigeria owe retired journalists over N1.3 billion in unpaid pension contributions.
Oloworaran made this disclosure when she led a PenCom delegation on a visit to the Nigerian Press Council (NPC), on Tuesday.
A statement by the PenCom management on Wednesday said Oloworaran expressed concerns about the widespread non-compliance with the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014) by media establishments.
She said PenCom and the NPC have entered into a strategic collaboration aimed at urging newspaper organisations to address their substantial pension liabilities.
“The PRA 2014 mandates that employers remit monthly pension contributions into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) no later than seven days after salary payments,” she said.
The PenCom DG, however, noted that several media houses have failed to meet the requirement, prompting the commission to engage recovery agents to audit and determine the extent of their outstanding pension debts and any applicable penalties.
Oloworaran emphasised that journalists, who play a crucial role in promoting accountability in both public and private sectors, deserve to retire with dignity.
She said media organisations must lead by example by fulfilling their pension obligations to employees.
The DG appealed to NPC to support advocacy efforts within the media sector, stressing that pension contributions are a critical 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,” Oloworaran said.
Responding, Dili Ezughah, executive secretary of the NPC, pledged the council’s full support and commitment to rallying key stakeholders, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), to address the issue comprehensively.
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