The National Pension Commission has said the Director-General of PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, was absent to defend the commission’s 2021/2022 budget before the lawmakers because she was out of town for an official engagement.

The commission said this in a statement after it appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Thursday to defend the commission’s 2021/2022 budget and present the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper.

At the hearing, the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon Saidu Abdullahi, frowned at the absence of the director-general.

The commission stated that, “It is pertinent to note that the DG’s absence was because she was out of town attending an official engagement. However, the commissioner of finance, the director and head of accounts, and the deputy director and head of financial planning represented her, which is the usual practice whenever the DG is unavailable.

“The director-general takes invitations from the National Assembly seriously and ensures that she attends personally except when the exigencies of her office make it impossible, in which case the relevant commissioner and management staff of the commission represent her.

“Finally, PenCom notes with satisfaction the observation by the House Committee on the quality and comprehensiveness of the reports submitted to it by the commission.