The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that there is a firm safeguard for pension funds which makes it impossible for anybody to tamper with them.
“There are rules and well laid out limitations about what pension fund assets can be invested in and what it cannot be invested in,” Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mr Wale Edun said.
He added: “The Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to go beyond those prescribed limits, or outside those bounds, which are there to safeguard the pensions of workers.”
Edu spoke against the backdrop of fears being raised in some political and Labour quarters that the Federal Government was interested in using the funds for infrastructure development.
Former Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are among those making the claims.
Edun had after Tuesday’s marathon Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting hinted at plans by the government to deploy about N20 trillion pension fund on infrastructure. The comment drew the ire of some Nigerians.
The minister made the government’s position known on the pension funds, in a video posted yesterday.
