FG Clears N758bn Pension Arrears, 957,045 Benefit

The Federal Government has cleared inherited pension liabilities dating back to 2007 through a N758bn intervention bond, benefiting 957,045 pensioners and beneficiaries across the country.

The Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this in her keynote address titled, ‘From Reform to Reality: Renewed Hope, Pension Security for All Nigerians,’ at the 2026 PenCom Media Conference in Lagos on Tuesday.

Oloworaran said the settlement marked a decisive step towards ending years of delayed pension benefits inherited across successive administrations.

She said, “The Federal Government cleared all inherited pension liabilities, some dating back to 2007. These obligations passed through multiple administrations, but this government chose to settle them. That is statesmanship, a debt paid, not just a promise.

“Every nation makes a promise to the people who build it—those who serve faithfully and diligently. When your working years are done, your country should not forget you. For too long, that promise was kept slowly, partially, or not at all. Today, I can report that this has changed—not in aspiration, but in fact.”

According to her, the settlement of the legacy pension debts is part of broader institutional reforms being implemented under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

She disclosed that accrued pension rights for federal employees scheduled to retire up to December 2029 had already been credited directly to their Retirement Savings Accounts following a one-time verification and enrolment exercise.

Oloworaran also said PenCom had introduced a Zero Waiting Time Policy to align retirement payments with monthly public service salary cycles and prevent financial gaps for newly retired workers.

She added that the turnaround time for processing pension benefits had been reduced from as long as 21 months to 48 hours.

On efforts to improve pension awareness, the PenCom DG said the commission was working with Pension Fund Administrators and other stakeholders to expand pension literacy and reach more Nigerians.

“We do have a lot to do, and we recognise that, both at the industry level and also in PenCom as well,” she said.

On extending the reforms to state governments, Oloworaran said PenCom was engaging states to encourage them to adopt the Contributory Pension Scheme and address the adequacy of pension payments.

“We are engaging states on various levels. Number one: get onboarded onto the Contributory Pension Scheme.

“And then, number two: the conversation we are having with people who are now part of the scheme is the question of adequacy, on how we can benchmark what is being paid to retirees so that, you know, when we have inflation, there can be a balance,” she said.

The conference also highlighted a major review of pension payments to retirees of the defunct Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund.

According to PenCom, the 21-year review resulted in an average 1,173 per cent increase in payments for 2,116 NSITF retirees, alongside the settlement of N8.7bn in arrears.

The commission further disclosed that Pension Boost 1.0 had increased monthly disbursements under the Contributory Pension Scheme from N12.15bn to N14.83bn, benefiting more than 241,000 retirees nationwide.

Oloworaran said the true measure of a government’s commitment to its workforce should include how it treats workers after retirement by ensuring that pension obligations are fulfilled.

The commission also announced plans to introduce the PenCare free healthcare support programme, initially targeting 30,000 low-income retirees.

Other planned initiatives include the activation of a statutory Minimum Pension Guarantee baseline and expansion of the Micro Pension Plan to cover more informal sector workers through a nationwide agent network.

Speaking on pension coverage among informal sector workers, the Director of Personal Pension Plans at PenCom, Dr Babatunde Alayande, said 93 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce, representing about 84.92 million workers, operates in the informal sector.

He said the sector contributes between 58 and 65 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, yet pension coverage remains extremely low.

According to Alayande, only 242,690 people were enrolled in the Personal Pension Plan as of July 2026, leaving a coverage gap of 99.71 per cent.

He noted that women were particularly affected, with 96 per cent of employed women working in the informal sector.

Alayande explained that the Personal Pension Plan, established under Section 2(3) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, provides flexible retirement savings options for self-employed persons, traders, artisans, farmers, gig workers, formal sector employees, foreign contributors and minors through voluntary parental registration.

He said contributors could make daily, weekly or monthly payments through USSD, mobile money or bank transfers, with minimal documentation requiring a phone number and National Identification Number.

Alayande cautioned that registration alone could not guarantee retirement security, stressing the need to encourage consistent contributions.

“Access does not automatically lead to active saving,” he said, adding, “Registrations are not the measure of success.”

He said PenCom was therefore pursuing strategies including multilingual awareness campaigns, simplified digital onboarding, gender-sensitive and Sharia-compliant products, as well as partnerships with development organisations.

The commission also accredited six Accredited Pension Agents in 2026 to expand access to pension services in underserved areas.

The agents are Awabah Remit Services Limited, e-Tranzact International Limited, NextAutomate APA Limited, SunTrust Bank Nigeria Limited, PrimeTrust APA Limited and Majestic APA Limited.

The Chairperson of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors, Ebere Nwoji, commended Oloworaran for what she described as her commitment to improving the welfare of pensioners.

Also speaking, a representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Iwa Iko, who described himself as a pioneer of Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme, endorsed the reforms announced by PenCom.

Iko said he was a member of the Chief Fola Adeola Committee that developed the framework for the modern pension reforms and later retired as a director in the Federal Public Service under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

He also said he had personally benefited from the recent pension review, noting that his monthly pension payment had increased following the exercise.