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The Tinubu Administration has never hidden the fact, that it inherited a near empty treasury at its inception. This explains
why the Federal Government’s debt profile, is spiralling upward. But, when allegedly, there was an announcement about
Government’s intention to borrow from Pension Funds to develop the critical infrastructure sector, not a few eyebrows
were raised as to the propriety or otherwise of such a design. The Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the
Economy, Mr Olawale Edun, was constrained to issue a statement clarifying this, saying “The pension industry, like
most the financial industries, is highly regulated. There are rules. There are limitations about what pension money
can be invested in, and what it cannot be invested in. The Federal Government has no intention whatsoever, to go
beyond those limitations and go outside those bounds which are there to safeguard the pensions of workers. What
was announced to the Federal Executive Council, was that there was an ongoing initiative drawing in all the major
stakeholders in the long-term saving industry, those that handle funds that are available over a long period to see
how, within the regulations and the laws, these funds could be used maximally to drive investment in key growth
areas”. Nevertheless, in this Discourse, Bolu Ojewole, Kede Aihie, and Oluwadamilare Said discuss the intricacies, risks,
propriety or otherwise, if such a plan were to be real. Aside from the fact that the Pension Fund Administrators have clear
guidelines on how they can invest, a substantial amount of pension funds are already invested with Government in Federal
Government securities, pointing to the fact that it isn’t exactly as if N20 trillion is lying in the Banks idle.
Source – THISDAY NEWSPAPERS
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