Chinedu Eze
There are indications that the over 700 workers of the now-rested Air Nigeria who were sacked last year may not secure the 25 per cent of their pension deposits.
This is because they were not issued with disengagement letters and the company which relieved them of their jobs did not communicate to the Pension Commission (PENCOM) that they have been sacked, THISDAY has learnt.
The workers are eligible to receive 25 per cent of their contributions to the scheme after they have remained unemployed six months after their sack, but that hope seems to have been dashed as the workers who lost their jobs when the company closed on September 10, 2012 may not receive the contributions, unless the Chairman of the company, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, intervenes.
One of the workers (name withheld), who has spearheaded the move to secure funds from the PENCOM contributions, told THISDAY that the efforts of the workers to secure the funds were impeded by the fact that they did not provide necessary documentation to show that they were sacked by Air Nigeria.
He said that his pension fund administrator (PFA) and that of many of the workers, IBTC Pensions, refused to honour the workers’ request to deduct 25 per cent from their contributions until they present their letters of disengagement and until the company gets a letter from Air Nigeria confirming that the company had sacked them.
“By regulations, an individual is permitted to access 25 per cent of his savings/contributions with the PFAs after six months of being unemployed. Sadly, some conditions; firstly (possession of a disengagement letter) cannot be met in the case of Air Nigeria as the airline suddenly shut down operations without issuing a disengagement letter to employees. Secondly, the PFA is to write to the company (Air Nigeria) and get a confirmation response that such an individual had been a staff in time past. As the case is, we cannot get a disengagement letter and Air Nigeria doesn't exist anymore to give response to any enquiry,” he said.
According to him, the above fact made it obvious that these “conditions can't be met in any way possible while other requirements are intact, except for these two factors which are not in the power of the unlawfully sacked employees.”
The Chairman of Air Nigeria, Ibrahim, told THISDAY he would not comment on the matter concerning disengagement letter as the workers had taken the company to court, adding that he did not know anything about the workers contributions.
“The second point is that the company terminated them based on their sabotaging activities of the company so we should wait for the court’s ruling which will decide whether they can get the letter,” he said.
“The second point is that the company terminated them based on their sabotaging activities of the company so we should wait for the court’s ruling which will decide whether they can get the letter,” he said.
The Managing Director of IBTEC Pensions, Demola Sogunle, told THISDAY on Wednesday that the matter concerning the Air Nigeria workers was a regulatory issue because the company cannot act without the workers meeting the criteria set out for them to benefit from their contributions.
“PENCOM is reaching out to the aviation regulatory body, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to put pressure on Air Nigeria to settle this matter. For 25 per cent of their contributions to be obtained the workers must show they were sacked so there must be a sack letter. Such letter will show that the workers did not resign because if you resign under the age of 50 years it indicates you have another job in view so you don’t need the 25 per cent of your contribution,” he said.
Sogunle also argued that Air Nigeria is still a legal entity because it has not been liquidated, not that if it were liquidated the liquidator would issue sack letter to the workers.
“So the sacked workers could be described to be in limbo because if you are retrenched the letter will show you as retrenched. Air Nigeria did not issue a letter.”
This is a painful reality to the workers whose fate even as sacked workers would still be determined by their former employer to obtain part of their savings.
“So the sacked workers could be described to be in limbo because if you are retrenched the letter will show you as retrenched. Air Nigeria did not issue a letter.”
This is a painful reality to the workers whose fate even as sacked workers would still be determined by their former employer to obtain part of their savings.
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