A civil society organisation with a cardinal focus on entrenching transparency in the pension industry, Pension Transparency and Accountability Initiative (PTAI), has commended President Bola Tinubu for nominating
Omolola Oloworaran for the position of director-general of National Pension Commission (PenCom).
This is even as PTAI has cautioned saboteurs, who have been allegedly sponsoring media attacks on Oloworaran’s credibility, career path, and family background in a desperate attempt to discredit her, to desist from doing so as such hate-induced criticism could be inimical to the development of the sector especially at a time the pension industry needed technocrats like her to give the sector a new lease of life.
The national coordinator of PTAI, Alhaji Bello Usman Bello, who gave the warning in a press statement made available to LEADERSHIP, said the nominee possesses the needed requirements, including career path as a finance expert to head the Pension Commission.
According to him, Oloworaran wields unscathed integrity in her decades of career in banking, investment management, consultancy, pension administration and more, making her a perfect fit at this critical time to regulate the pension industry especially as senior citizens crave for value as retirees and pensioners.
Bello said, “We find malicious publications questioning the qualification of Oloworaran very funny and laughable, lacking in indepth, truth and fact. For the avoidance of doubt, no part of the Pension Reformed Act of 2014 excludes a person who has worked in the financial sector from being appointed as the Director General of PenCom, in fact, such is a clear added advantage as pension itself an aspect of the financial sector. This why financial institutions today have a dedicated department that manages pension matters.
“It smacks of clear lack of understanding that those querying her qualification have been dangling as aspect of the PRA 2014 which states that for anyone to be appointed as PenCom DG, such person must have qualification in pension matters. We now ask, what is pension matters as stipulated in the Act Financial sector is vast and broad, covering several aspects, which pension itself is inclusive. We find their argument paperweight and devoid of any substance.
“If there is anything they have succeeded in telling the world, it is that the Kogi princess, beautifully decorated with the anointing of beauty, wisdom and favour is more than qualified for the job which Mr. President in his wisdom and knack for excellence has graciously appointed her to do. Those having their eye fixed on it can now go get themselves busy with something else. We can trade excellence for mediocrity at a time her expertise is needed to consolidate on the achievements of her predecessors,” Bello stated.
Oloworaran is expected to appear before the Senate for confirmation hearing as the substantive Director General of PenCom.