President Bola Tinubu has approved a major pension intervention that has enabled the Federal Government to clear inherited pension liabilities dating back to 2007, according to the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, said the government deployed a ₦758 billion Federal Government Pension Bond to settle outstanding obligations, benefiting 957,045 pension beneficiaries.
Oloworaran disclosed this while outlining the administration’s pension reforms, which she said were aimed at improving retirees’ welfare and preventing fresh arrears from accumulating.
She said the intervention had cleared liabilities carried over from previous administrations, marking a significant step towards ensuring that retirees receive their entitlements without prolonged delays.
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The commission also disclosed that accrued pension rights for enrolled federal employees due to retire up to December 2029 had been credited to their Retirement Savings Accounts following a verification and enrolment exercise.
PenCom said eligible employees and ministries, departments and agencies must complete the required enrolment process before the exercise closes in December 2026.
As part of efforts to prevent future delays, the commission introduced a Zero Waiting Time policy, under which retirement benefits that previously took as long as 21 months to process are now expected to be approved within 48 hours, subject to completion of the required procedures.
The reforms also include Pension Boost 1.0, which increased monthly pension payments for more than 241,000 retirees from ₦12.15 billion to ₦14.83 billion.
In another intervention, pensions for 2,116 retirees of the defunct Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund were reviewed for the first time in 21 years, resulting in an average increase of 1,173 per cent. The commission said ₦8.7 billion in arrears was also paid to the affected retirees.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s pension assets rose from ₦20.79 trillion in July 2024 to ₦31.48 trillion in June 2026, while 938,229 new contributors joined the Contributory Pension Scheme during the period.
PenCom said it would continue to strengthen pension administration, enforce the remittance of workers’ contributions and expand coverage to informal-sector workers.
The commission has also announced plans for PenCare, a proposed free healthcare support programme initially targeting 30,000 low-income retirees, alongside a statutory Minimum Pension Guarantee for eligible pensioners.
The measures form part of broader efforts to improve retirement security and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s pension system.
