Atiku: Pension Reform Act of 2004 Laid Foundation for Sustainable Pension System

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his remarks on the Federal Government’s pension backlog, urging the President to stop blaming past administrations and focus on addressing the country’s current challenges.

In a statement issued on Friday by his Media Office through his media aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku described President Tinubu’s comments as “ghosting and shadow chasing,” saying the APC-led administration should concentrate on governance instead of attributing present-day problems to governments that left office nearly two decades ago.

The former Vice President was reacting to comments reportedly made by President Tinubu while receiving political stakeholders from the North-East led by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, where he blamed the country’s pension challenges on the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku argued that government is a continuum and that every administration inherits both the assets and liabilities of its predecessor.

He maintained that the Obasanjo/Atiku administration inherited a broken and underfunded pension system in 1999 but implemented reforms that transformed Nigeria’s pension sector.

According to the statement, the administration enacted the Pension Reform Act of 2004, established the National Pension Commission (PenCom), introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), and created a framework involving Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).

The statement further noted that the reforms helped eliminate the accumulation of unfunded pension liabilities and laid the foundation for what it described as Nigeria’s modern pension system.

Atiku also accused President Tinubu of failing to acknowledge the pension reforms introduced by the Obasanjo administration, insisting that the current government should focus on solving the nation’s economic and governance challenges instead of engaging in political blame games.