Premium Pension blazes pension industry trail in ISO Certification
Posted On: September 18, 2019
Left to right
Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission, His Excellency Simon Shercliff, Chairman, Board of Directors, Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Aliyu Dikko, Managing Director, Mr. Wilson Ideva, the Business Development Manager, British Standards Institute, East and Africa, Vladimir Chenry and Professor Mohammed Kaoje Abubakar, Commissioner Inspectorate during the occasion of ISO 27001:2013 Certificate Presentation to Premium Pension Limited. The company is the first in the pension industry to be so certified.
ISO is a collection of quality management systems standards designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and other regulatory requirements related to a product. Premium Pension Limited got the ISO27701:2013 Certification on information security management system.
“The acquisition of ISO 27001: 2013 (Information Security Management System) Certification is part and parcel of the journey towards achieving our vision and mission” said Aliyu Dikko, the Company’s board chairman at the occasion of the presentation of the certificate. “Premium Pension Limited set out in 2005 with a vision to be the leading PFA in Nigeria and a global player with a vision to achieve superior customer satisfaction in active and retirement life through best practice.”
“The achievement of ISO 27001: 2013 certification is a visible proof of the company’s commitment to meet internationally-accepted data security standard” continued Mr. Dikko. “Premium Pension is the first among PFAs to achieve this feat which has been attained through hard work and dedication of our board, management and staff who are seasoned professionals in the pension industry.”
According to him, the certification is an indication that PPL made information security a priority, while also reassuring stakeholders that the best security infrastructure has been put in place. He further added that the security system was in strong compliance with the National Pension Commission (PenCom) Information Technology standards while noting that the certification would further reinforce the confidence of Retirement Saving Accounts holders, retirees, regulators and other stakeholders in Premium Pension.
The Director-General of PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, represented by the Commissioner, Inspectorate, Professor Mohammad Kaoje, felicitated with Premium Pension for the certification. She said that PenCom was proud of the noble achievements recorded by the company in the nation’s pension industry.
Anohu-Amazu said that since the advent of the contributory pension scheme in Nigeria, the pension fund had grown significantly.
She said that Nigeria had been able to move out of a deficit of pension fund to about N5.5 trillion of pension fund under the management of PenCom, adding that Premium Pension has been part of the success story in the industry. According to her, under the scheme, pensioners have been getting their benefits on time, noting that regulators and operators in the scheme had not been found wanting in the discharge of their fiduciary responsibilities. She said that there had never been any case of any sharp practices since the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme in the country.
The Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Simon Shercliff who was the Special Guest of Honour at the presentation noted that the certification was an indication that PPL was advancing its credibility .He noted that the acquisition was according to the recognised standard, adding that it was very important to attain international standard with many different professional accreditation.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Premium Pension, Mr Wilson Ideva, corroborating the chairman’s views, said the certification demonstrated the company’s zeal to ensure the safety of its subscribers’ funds.
Ideva said that the certification met the expectation of its RSA holders and Legacy Pension Funds owners that entrusted their funds to the PFA “It further demonstrates our zeal to ensure the safety of your funds” he said. “For our board and management team, this is another indication and measure of our strong corporate governance anchored on global best practice.”
Present at the event were representatives from Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and various other stakeholders in the pension industry.