General
PenCom DG Aisha Dahiru Falsely Accused of $1.8m Misappropriation—Investigation
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An investigation conducted by the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria has revealed that the Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs Aisha Dahiru-Umar, did not misappropriate any funds to the tune of $1,800,480 and N4,965,327 as alleged.
A group known as the Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) had accused the PenCom DG of receiving $1,800,480 in estacode on January 3, 2019, on a Washington DC trip.
It was further alleged that she was paid another N4,243,116 on March 13, 2020, on airfare to attend the Reinventing HR Summit in London and collected an additional estacode of N3,077,648. CPA also claimed the woman received $259,200 on the trip.
The CSOs had to launch a probe into these allegations, and it was discovered that she was not involved in the alleged misappropriation of funds by the agency.
According to the findings, the accusations are “false, frivolous, unfounded, malicious and figment of the imagination of the actors whose primary aim we came to understand is to distract the Director General from her giant reformatory drive in the commission.
“Simply put, the allegations and the documents being bandied were hurriedly cooked up by seekers of favour as a bargaining chip to seek political appointment under the President Bola Tinubu government,” a part of the report pointed out.
The group said in a joint world press conference on Wednesday that it conducted the investigation using a pool of experts who assessed the claims by CPA.
Based on their findings, the allegations and documents “being bandied were hurriedly cooked up by seekers of favour as a bargaining chip to seek political appointment under the President Bola Tinubu government.”
The report said contrary to the claims that Ms Aisha-Dahiru was paid N4,243,116, N3,077,648 and $259,200 for trips in 2020, countries, including Nigeria, were on lockdown.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it was alleged that the said estacode was received in the year 2020. This again raises a red flag in the entire choreographed episode. You will agree with me that the entire global community was on a total lockdown — no movement of persons within and outside the country.
“In fact, there was no inter-state travels as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which held the global community by the jugular. Despite this, our team meticulously and methodologically deployed their technical know-how and discovered NOTHING implicating the Director General.
“Investigations, however, revealed that what was at play is simply a demonstration of envy, bitterness, powerplay and unexplained gang-up against the Director-General by persons who are afraid that the giant feat she has achieved since assumption of office is displacing the old order thereby thwarting their efforts to keep the entire sector perpetually backwards in a rapidly moving world for their own nefariously selfish intentions.
“It is one of those scenarios where people fabricate malicious allegations to cheaply blackmail performing heads of government institutions with the primary objective to distract them and instigate their appointor (the President) against them,” the report noted.
It also highlighted the sterling performance of the PenCom boss since she became the acting DG and was later confirmed in 2020 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The CSO report said she raised the country’s pension asset from N6.42 trillion in 2017 when she came on board to N15.5 trillion as of February 2023.
The report also highlighted how reformed the pensions industry is through recapitalization from N1 billion to N5 billion.
“Another first in the nation’s pension industry is the approval of structured reduction of fees on the Net Asset Value of pension fund assets as well as the introduction of the Micro Pension Plan for the participation of informal sector workers in the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“Among many other brilliant innovations she has introduced is the mortgage scheme for retirement savings account holders, which enables RSA holders to use the balance of their RSA savings for the purpose of mortgage.
“The DG’s visible reformatory drives led to the approval by the former President of the sum of N159.466 billion for the payment of outstanding accrued rights and other pension liabilities of the government’s retirees.
“That is an open expression of confidence in the leadership of PenCom under Mrs Dahir-Umar.”
The report recalled how similar allegations were made against the PenCom boss under former President Buhari which failed because it lacked substance.
It added, “While we pass a vote of confidence on the Director General of PenCom, we appeal to all stakeholders to ignore the unfounded allegations against her and continue to offer support as she is poised to give all Nigerians a life worth living post-retirement.
“We call on President Bola Tinubu to sustain the federal government’s support towards the total overhaul of the country’s pension sector for a collective success in the interest of our senior citizens and all other members of our society.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is eyeing stronger diplomatic and strategic ties when it comes to sustainable development as it participates in the 2026 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).
President Bola Tinubu arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Sunday. His plane landed at the Presidential Wing of Zayed International Airport at exactly 11:30 pm local time.
He was received by Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi; Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar; and members of the Nigerian diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi.
Several other ministers, including the Minister of Budget and Planning, Mr Atiku Bagudu; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Jumoke Oduwole; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mr Mohammed Mohammed, welcomed President Tinubu at his hotel.
President Tinubu arrived in Abu Dhabi from Europe, where he spent part of his end-of-year break, engaging in fruitful discussions with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a statement by the presidency.
The 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, with the theme The Nexus of Next, All Systems Go, is a global platform that brings together world leaders, policymakers, investors, and experts to advance dialogue and action on sustainable development, climate action, energy transition, and inclusive economic growth.
This visit further reinforces the strong diplomatic and economic ties between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while positioning Nigeria as an active contributor to global conversations on sustainable development.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to account for about N55.9 billion earmarked for the purchase of some materials for the 2019 general elections has forced the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to file a lawsuit against the commission.
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/38/2026 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP asked the court for an order of mandamus to compel INEC to disclose the names of all contractors paid the sum of money.
It was claimed that the N55.9 billion was meant for the purchase of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets and other election materials for the 2019 general elections, which produced the late Mr Muhammadu Buhari as President for a second term in office.
SERAP is relying on the latest annual report published by the Auditor-General on September 9, 2025, to ask for the use of the funds, which is said to be missing or diverted.
The organisation argued that the electoral umpire “must operate without corruption if the commission is to ensure free and fair elections in the country and uphold Nigerians’ right to participation.”
“INEC cannot ensure impartial administration of future elections if these allegations are not satisfactorily addressed, perpetrators including the contractors involved are not prosecuted and the proceeds of corruption are not fully recovered,” a part of the statement issued by the group stated.
“INEC cannot properly carry out its constitutional and statutory responsibilities to conduct free and fair elections in the country if it continues to fail to uphold the basic principles of transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
“These allegations also constitute abuse of public office and show the urgent need by INEC to commit to transparency, accountability, clean governance and the rule of law,” it further declared.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Ministry of Finance has directed all shipping companies and airlines operating in Nigeria to submit their manifests through the Single Window Project (SWP) as part of efforts to strengthen cargo tracking and transparency.
The submission of shipping manifests before the change of policy was handled exclusively by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for onward cargo processing and port clearance.
However, following a memo from late last year signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, all shipping firms and airlines were directed to integrate with the National Single Window platform to ensure seamless Manifests submission.
“I would like to bring to your attention that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the National Single Window (NSW) Project on the 16th of April 2024.
The NSW Project aims to streamline and automate import and export processes at Nigeria’s entry & exit ports, with the dual goals of enhancing trade facilitation and increasing government revenue.
“By integrating the operations of multiple government agencies involved in trade processes on one platform, the NSW platform will ensure faster clearance of goods and services, improve operational efficiencies at the imports and significantly reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Key components of the Single Window as defined by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World Customs Organisation (WCO) include: (a) a single-entry point i.e. traders, shipping lines, airlines and other stakeholders should submit all required import and export documentation through a single-entry point on a centralized digital platform, and (b) single submission i.e. all documentation should only be submitted once and data only entered once.
“As a result, the NSW Platform will be the single-entry point of submission for all Sea and Air Manifests. Therefore, all shipping lines and airlines are therefore directed to integrate with the NSW Platform to ensure seamless Manifests submission,” parts of the memo read.
The Comptroller-General of the NCS, the chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were copied in the memo.
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