The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has clarified that it did not overturn a reported N1 billion sanction against Leadway in the first assignment of its Director General, Omolola Oloworaran, while denying working for the Odukale family, founders of Leadway Assurance Company Limited.
The right of reply by the Head, Corporate Communications Department, PenCom, Mr. Ibrahim Buwai, was shared with Naijaonpoint on Wednesday.
The reaction follows a media report (not from Naijaonpoint) which claimed that while PenCom penalised both Leadway Pensure and NLPC Pension Fund Administrators Limited (NLPC PFA) financially for their alleged involvement in trading bonds across funds, Oloworaran “overturned the N1 billion sanction against Leadway in her first assignment” as PenCom DG.
The report also accused the DG of favoring Tunde Hassan-Odukale, chairman of a financial institution, where Oloworaran was head of services before her appointment as PenCom DG in 2024, following an alleged “latest PenCom rule change.”
“Consequently, the PFAs were issued administrative sanctions of N72 million and N24 million, respectively.
“In addition, the PFAs were directed to refund into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Funds under their management sums of N1.45 billion and N384 million, respectively, as the computed losses, since the transactions were not conducted at market prices,” he added.
“Accordingly, a revised position revealed that Leadway made gains of N1.1 billion and losses of N1.7 billion, resulting in a net loss of N598 million. In the case of NLPC, a net loss of N83 million was determined,” he added.
“However, the administrative sanctions were not reversed, and both operators complied and paid,” he added.
A previous opinion by the Naijaonpoint Research & Analysis Board noted that one provision in the PenCom Revised Guidelines on Corporate Governance for Licensed Pension Fund Operators has “caught the eye.”
The board recommends that allowing Principal Owners to remain on boards beyond the tenure limit undermines the standards these rules were designed to uphold.