In the year 2000, following the sale of 60% of National Oil & Chemical Marketing Company Limited (NOLCHEM) shares to Conpetro under the Obasanjo administration, the company's name was changed from NOLCHEM PLC to CONOIL PLC.
Consequent to this transition from NOLCHEM to CONOIL PLC, CONOIL made adequate arrangements for the Pension Fund and paid benefits to existing pensioners and workers who chose to leave CONOIL then.

The lump sum payment and commutation of the Pension provision of the Trust Deed were amended in the Supplementary Trust Deed executed between CONOIL and the Trustee of the Pension Fund. This amendment is a great mistake by the Trustee, as they later learned to their chagrin.

On January 1st, 1952, a NON-CONTRIBUTORY Pension Fund was set up by Shell Company of West Africa Limited (later known as Shell Company of Nigeria Limited), funded solely by Shell Company of Nigeria Limited and supplemented by investment dividends and interest income to take care of its pensioners.

Since this Fund is non-contributory, a retiree pension automatically stops when the retiree ceases to exist, i.e., upon death.
In 1975, Shell Company of Nigeria Limited was changed to National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company Plc (NOLCHEM), consequent upon the indigenization decree of the Muritala/Obasanjo regime.

NOLCHEM entered into a trust deed on August 4th, 1976, and NOLCHEM Provident Trust Limited used it to establish a pension fund. The Pension Fund was created and registered as the Trust Scheme to benefit staff/employees and artisans of NOLCHEM, formerly Shell Company of Nigeria Limited.

The scheme was running smoothly until the events in paragraphs 1 & 2.

Sometime in 2009, a dispute arose between the Trustee of the Trust Deed and CONOIL to comply with the pension harmonization policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria or in the alternative, pay the EXISTING Pensioners off by liquidating the Pension Trust Fund. CONOIL opted to outrightly buy out the Fund so that EXISTING pensioners would be fully paid off.

The Trustee of the Fund estimated the net worth of the Fund based on the last audit as of September 30th, 2009, to be N3,705,732,653 ( Three Billion, Seven Hundred and Five Million, Seven Hundred and Thirty-Two Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty-Three Naira.
CONOIL claimed that after actuarial valuation, the value of the Pension Fund is N1.62 Billion. The dispute was referred to Lagos High Court Multi-Door Court House to enable the Trustee and CONOIL to arrive at an amicable, practical, and workable solution.
CONOIL, upon negotiations, agreed to pay the Pensioners the sum of N1, 063, 964, 699.50 (One Billion, Sixty three Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety-Nine Naira, Fifty Kobo). The Pension Fund comprised of fixed deposit and Domiciliary Accounts, Stocks/Shares in various companies, which were to be liquidated and the proceeds paid into the account of a Pension Custodian to be appointed by the Pensioners as full and final settlement to be held and distributed to EXISTING Pensioners as final settlement of EXISTING Pensioners through a list to be supplied by the Pensioners.

The Pensioners appointed Stambic IBTC Pension Managers as Pension Fund Administrators who shall, in turn, nominate a Pension Fund Custodian to take custody of the Pension Fund in the agreed sum of N1,063,964,699.50 to be distributed to EXISTING Pensioners as a lump sum payment under the Supplementary Trust Deed. The liquidated stock portfolio of the Pension Fund shall be paid to Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers.

Since the Pension Trustee only had the membership list of Pensioners who retired before CONOIL took over NOLCHEM in the year 2000 (many staff retired voluntarily as a result of CONOIL taking over), they had to rely on a comprehensive list of Pensioner provided by CONOIL. Unfortunately, the list contained the names of members who had died. The non-contributory Pension Fund differs from the Contributory Fund introduced by Obasanjo in 2009; the deceased members automatically cease receiving pension upon death, and nothing is paid into their estate.

The Pensioners executive deleted the names of members they were aware were dead. Still, the final list sent to IBTC Pension Managers inadvertently contained members who were no longer alive and should not have been on the list. After all existing pensioners had been paid, the Pensioner's executive demanded that the residual be remitted to the Pensioner's account to be distributed by EXISTING pensioners. IBTC refused, quoting the Pension Reform Act as their guide. They insist the remaining money should be paid into the estates of the pensioners whose names were on the list containing the remaining cash. This contradicts the TRUST DEED provision of August 4th, 1976, by NOLCHEM (a copy of which was given to IBTC). All efforts to make IBTC recant from this position by providing the NOLCHEM NON-CONTRIBUTORY PENSION DEED could not sway them. They have been holding on to the balance in the account, which presently stood at over N250,000,000.00 as of January 2024 since 2012.

This position is strange in the relationship between a customer and a bank. It is unknown that the bank will dictate to customers what they should do with their money! They still reiterated this strange position in the current reply to our lawyer, who demanded the balance in the account and that the balance be paid into the Pensioner's account.

Several questions arise from this situation:
1. What is the role of IBTC in determining how pensioners distribute their funds, given that the pensioners appointed them?
2. Why has IBTC retained the funds for over ten years, and why has no one come forward to claim any part of the money?
3. Why does IBTC insist that the remaining funds be paid into the estates of deceased pensioners despite proof that the NOLCHEM Pensioners' scheme is not subject to the 2004 Pension Reform Act?
These questions underscore the need for clarity and resolution regarding the management and distribution of the Pension Fund.

Jibola Jeremiah Oluti
Financial Secretary
NOLCHEM Pensioner.