Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The Federal Government has cleared its backlog of accrued pension rights for enrolled federal workers, with funding now extended to December 2029, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced.
The development represents a reversal of a previous 21-month funding deficit, with the government now recording a 41-month surplus in its accrued pension obligations.
PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Wednesday at the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria Conference in Abuja. She was represented by the commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Buwai.
She said the funding position meant that federal employees who had enrolled in the pension scheme but were yet to retire had their accrued pension rights fully funded up to December 2029.
“We are moving from a position where we had, where our full pension rights were 21 months in arrears, to where we are today, 41 months in surplus. And 41 months in surplus means that federal government employees who have not yet retired and who have enrolled have had their accrued pension rights paid up to December 2029,” she said.
Oloworaran also disclosed that delays in the payment of retirement benefits had been significantly addressed, with pension payments now processed within 48 hours of retirement.
“The issue of delays of payment of pension has now become history, and now pensions are being paid within a maximum of 48 hours from retirement,” she said.
She highlighted two recent pension reforms unveiled by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday: the PenCare health insurance programme and the N52,500 minimum pension guarantee.
According to her, PenCare is designed to reduce retirees’ healthcare expenses, allowing them to spend more of their monthly pension income on other essential needs. The programme is funded by pension operators and PenCom and supervised by an independent board of trustees chaired by the commission’s pioneer Director-General, Muhammad Ahmad.
On the minimum pension guarantee, Oloworaran explained that eligible retirees receiving less than N52,500 would have their monthly payments increased to the new threshold. She added that some beneficiaries received payment notifications during the programme’s launch.
The PenCom chief further announced that the Federal Government had approved additional exit benefits equivalent to 100 per cent of terminal emoluments for eligible retirees, effective January 1, 2026. She said retirees who submitted the required documents had begun receiving payments.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Tolulope Odunaiya, disclosed that the agency had introduced remote pension verification and improved life-status checks for retirees under the Defined Benefits Scheme. She was represented by the Head of Corporate Communications, Olugbenga Ajayi.
“With the new initiative of this verification without borders, pensioners in the US, in Uganda, in our villages can as well do their verification,” she said.
Odunaiya also announced that registration had commenced for PTAD’s proposed health insurance programme ahead of its formal launch.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Anthonia Ifeanyi-Okoro, called for increased investment of pension assets in infrastructure, housing, energy and other productive sectors to support Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1tn economy.
“Properly channelled into infrastructure, housing, energy, and productive sectors, these funds can help finance the growth we seek, while still protecting the retirement benefits of contributors,” she said.
Also speaking, Awabah Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Andrews, announced that registration requirements for the Personal Pension Plan had been reduced from 25 fields to four, making enrolment easier for informal-sector workers. He said contributions could now be made through Point of Sale terminals in partnership with Moniepoint and Interswitch.
Andrews also introduced Pension Oga, an initiative designed to deploy agents to markets and communities to register informal workers, collect pension contributions and promote retirement savings.
However, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Godwin Abumisi, called for the extension of the newly approved exit benefits to retirees who left service between 2004 and December 2025. Represented by Ahmad Ibrahim-Gazali, he also disclosed that N12.3bn had been released for the exit-benefit programme.
The conference also featured calls for improved financial inclusion, stronger pension administration and greater public awareness of retirement savings, with industry representatives highlighting the need to expand micro-pension participation among Nigerians in the informal sector.
