Pension Money going! Going! As Fashola wants N5trn pension funds released for investment

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, at the weekend said that it was high time to release for investment in bankable projects, the over N5 trillion accumulated pensions funds currently being holed up by government appointed Pension Funds Administors (PFAs).
Fashola who contended that there was no need continuing to keep the funds and left idle when there are abundant opportunities in terms of bankable projects yearning for funding, spoke while delivering a paper at a three-day workshop with the theme “The Nigerian Pension industry strategy implementation roadmap retreat.” It was organised by the National Pen-sions Commission (PenCom) for Pension stakeholders in Abuja.
The Director General of PenCom, Mrs Chinelo Amazu-Anohu had explained that the objective of the retreat was to explore viable avenues for investing the accumulated Pension Funds where it will be secured, benefit the people and generate interests.
But the Minister who said there are abundant avenues to invest the funds such as in roads, rail, housing, hospitals, education, among others; however, maintained that if the funds were to be put into such projects, Nigerians need to change their attitudes.
He cited that it is out of place for politicians to play politics with economic survival of the people by giv¬ing threats to cancel projects started by rival political opponent or party, not minding the economic importance of such project.
He said: “We must not play politics with our economic survival. Investors want continuity of policies, even if government changes. Our politics must therefore, mature to the level where we must refrain from campaigns that threaten to cancel contracts. We will be poorer for it.
“Even when we perceive that the government of the day has poorly negotiated a contract, threats of cancellation do not help. What we may, at the worst, seek to do is re-negotiate after elections are over where it is possible to do so.”
Further, the minister contended that judicial interventions in commercial cases should be done in a commercial and expeditious manner, just as he advised that judges should refrain from grant¬ing injunctive orders that will stop the business but focus on resolving the dispute without detriment to the business, and instead award damages to the injured party.