Some staff of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), yesterday alleged the invasion of the Abuja headquarters of the agency by personnel of the Department of State Service (DSS).
They accused the agency of laying siege to the head office moment after the Director General Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu and her commissioners were disengaged.
The DSS operatives were said to have ordered staff of the commission out of the premises and also frisked them on their way out to ensure that they did not leave with any official document.
The aim, according to them, was to force the exit of Mrs Anohu-Amazu who was dropped as director general on April 13 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Her replacement, Alhaji Aliyu Abdulrahman Dikko, is waiting to assume duties alongside Funso Doherty, the new Chairman, and the quartet of Akin Akinwale, Abubakar Zaki Magawata, Ben Oviosun and Nyerere Ayim, Executive Commissioners subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The DSS, however, denied raiding or invading the complex.
It said it only deployed its personnel there as a proactive measure following allegations that documents were either bring tampered with or backdated.
It was learnt that the operatives will remain in PENCOM till the assumption of office by the new DG.
Mrs. Anohu- Amazu’s sympathizers in Pen-Com are claiming that her removal smacks of arbitrariness, and negates the spirit of due process in the Pension Reforms Act.
A powerful cabal in the presidency, according to them, is actively at work to effect arbitrary changes in a manner that is grossly contrary the spirit and letters of Part 5, section 21(1) and (2) of the Pension Reform Act, 2014, which specifies that a DG ought to have been formally written a letter by authorities.
They insist that the former DG has performed well in office especially with regard to what they call her zero tolerance for corruption, disregard for vested interests’ manipulative efforts and an ‘unprecedented boost in staff morale, welfare and human capital development’.
However, security sources said the DSS personnel were deployed only yesterday following intelligence alert that documents were either being tampered with or backdated.
It was learnt that the operatives will remain in PENCOM until the assumption of duty by the new DG.
Sources also said there has been tension in PENCOM since Anohu-Amazu’s disengagement.
It was gathered that the tension led to the DSS intervention yesterday.
A reliable source in DSS said: “We did not conduct any raid on PENCOM office.
“What we did was to put a standby team at the office to prevent anybody from tampering or altering any document unlawfully or without due process.
“We had intelligence that some documents were being tampered with, some documents were being signed and back dated at PENCOM following the announcement of a new management of the commission.
“We are only being pro-active by ordering all officials there to stop forthwith any action on official documents pending when the new management will assume duty.”
In a telephone chat with our correspondent last night, Mr. Emeka Onuora, Head, Corporate Communications Department, PenCom, said he was not aware of any invasion of the Commission’s headquarters.
Asked to confirm if the PenCom boss was still functioning as the head of the Commission despite her removal, he said: “I’m totally bereft of any idea as to whether Madam is still in charge.
“All I can say is that I did not see her in the office on Friday. I think the DSS should be in a better position to tell us what they know.”
