PenCom Conducts On-Site Inspection Of Data Recapture

…As agents visit organisations to capture workers

Approved agents of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAS) are visiting various offices to carry out data recapture for workers in the private and public sector.

To ensure all was going well, the commission carried out an on-site inspection of one of the agents, Afritech Multi Concepts Limited in its office on Monday.

The ongoing exercise is a pilot phase before the full commencement in January, next year. The exercise is aimed at capturing all workers and retirees in the country.

According to the commission, the agent will visit all organisations in the country to recapture their data thus making it stress free for workers.

Required documents for the registrations for data recapturing of workers in active employment are Staff Identity Card or National Drivers’ License, Permanent Voters’ Card, International Passport; National Identity card or enrollment slip issued by NIMC; Evidence of Nationality like international passport, if not already provided in active employment; and Birth Certificate or sworn affidavit of age declaration.

Documents required for retirees are International Passport or National Drivers’ License, Permanent Voters Card; National Identity Card or Enrollment slip issued by NIMC; and Evidence of nationality like International Passport, if not already provided during active employment.

For those who had a change of name, they will require Marriage Certificate which is only applicable in the case of marriage; Newspaper Publication; and Sworn affidavit; Confirmation from Employer.

Responding to questions from journalists during the inspection, PenCom Commissioner, Technical, Mr. Anyim Nyerere explained that the agents are assisting PFAs to ensure a seemless data recapturing exercise in the pension industry.

He said: “PenCom and PenOp came together and appointed agents to do the recapture on their behalf. So, in other words, it is PFAs that are doing it because they are agents of PFAs.

“Not only are they agents of PFA, they have the authorisation of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to capture and give people national identification number”, he noted.

The Head, National Data Bank Management Department, PenCom, Mrs Grace Usoro on her part assured of safety and security of workers and retirees as the process of data recapturing goes on.

She said: “The essence of for us to have a credible database of all contributors in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). It is also for us to ensure that whatever data we have obtained is harnmonised with the data that is with NIMC. This means that they are the same because the Federal Government is interested in ensuring we all have a unique identity.

“We have a very strict structure in place to ensure the agents don’t have the access to the information that is largely IT driven. The database is not residing with the agent but directly with PenCom in the commission’s data centre. So, when an RSA holder logging on to the computer to compute his or her information, the information is not residing in the local computer but it goes straight to our data centre’’.

“Also, we are carrying out impromptu remote surveillance of their IT systems to ensure that the controls we have put in place are not bypassed. So, we carry out intermittent system audit to ensure that they do not have access. We have put in a lot of efforts and taught into the process to ensure that the confidentiality of RSA holders record are upheld, especially as they are just agents to PFAs”, she added.

Chief Executive Officer, Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr. Oguche Aguda reaffirmed that the agents were engaged to help PFAs, nothing that the PFAs are still carrying out their own recapturing in their various companies.

He said the PFAs are excited that the process is going on and lead to a total capture of contributors under the scheme.

– The Nation