We ‘re not responsible for SSS data leakage – PenCom

By SONI DANIEL
ABUJA—Pension Commission of Nigeria, Pencom, yesterday, washed its hands off the leakage of State Security Service, SSS, data on the internet.

The commission, which manages the pension funds of Federal Government’s workers, said that it had no reason to work against a fellow Federal Government agency.

Last week, rumours were rife that the records of 60 current and past SSS staff and their immediate family members were leaked to a group sympathetic to Boko Haram, although the service promptly denied the leakage.

A source had informed Vanguard that the information poured on the Internet had the semblance of the data they submitted while filing their pension forms.

The source suggested that the information might have been sourced from the archive of the Federal Government agency following the pull out of the SSS from the commission.

It was learnt that following persistent outcry that SSS retirees  were not getting appreciable and commensurate retirement benefits from Pencom, the Presidency recently ordered the spy agency to disengage and float  own pension scheme to cope with the demands of its staff.

Head of Communications of Pencom, Mr. Emeka Onuarah, told Vanguard yesterday that the commission did not feel bad over the withdrawal of SSS from its pension scheme to warrant toying with the data it might have supplied.

Onuorah said, “Pencom does not have any reason to be angry with a fellow Federal Government agency. Once an order has been given by our employers it is mandatory to carry it out happily. There was no bad blood in the first place to warrant any action.”

The media head also explained that the commission did not collect the data of close family members of SSS and that it could not have been its data that was displayed on the internet.

“We don’t have the data of SSS family members as claimed and we want to make it categorically clear that the information said to have been displayed on the unnamed website did not emanate from Pencom,” the spokesman said.