President Bola Tinubu has pledged to implement a long-delayed minimal pension assure and broaden healthcare assist for retirees, saying his administration is set to make sure that Nigerians who served the nation usually are not deserted after retirement.
Mr Tinubu made the dedication on Thursday on the National Pension Conference and Awards, held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, as a part of the maiden National Pension Week 2026.
Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the president stated pension safety was a nationwide obligation and that his administration was decided to enhance the welfare of retirees.
“A pension is not a favour granted by Government. It is a wage earned, deferred and held in trust. It is a promise. And this Administration has resolved that the promise will be kept,” he stated.
He stated his administration was working to deal with excellent pension obligations and enhance retirees’ welfare by way of measures meant to strengthen the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The measures embrace implementing the Minimum Pension Guarantee underneath the Pension Reform Act 2014 and increasing PenCare, a healthcare assist programme for eligible retirees.
“Since enactment, that promise has never been honoured. Under President Tinubu, it will be,” Mr Akume stated, conveying the president’s dedication to implementing the minimal assure.
The president additionally reiterated his administration’s dedication to the N758 billion Federal Government Pension Bond, which was permitted to settle excellent accrued pension rights and strengthen the Pension Protection Fund.
“That was not an accounting exercise. It was an act of restitution to Nigerians who served their country and were made to wait for what they had earned,” Mr Akume stated on behalf of the president.
The president stated pension safety ought to be handled as a authorities duty moderately than a discretionary profit for retired staff.
“Above all, no Nigerian who has served this nation will be forgotten in retirement. Nigeria will keep faith with those who kept faith with Nigeria.”
Minimum pension assure, healthcare assist
The proposed Minimum Pension Guarantee is meant to offer a security internet for eligible retirees underneath the Contributory Pension Scheme whose retirement revenue is insufficient.
Although the Pension Reform Act 2014 supplies for the assure, the minimal quantity payable and the detailed implementation preparations will rely on the related pointers from the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The president additionally highlighted PenCare, a healthcare assist programme meant to enhance entry to important medical providers for low-income retirees.
The initiative is designed to increase retirement assist past pension funds by serving to eligible beneficiaries entry healthcare providers.
PenCom has begun rolling out PenCare, with an preliminary section focusing on 30,000 retirees. The programme is funded collectively by the fee and taking part pension fund operators.
According to the president, the initiative mirrored a broader strategy to retirement welfare, judging the pension system not solely by the financial savings contributors accumulate but in addition by the safety and dignity these financial savings present in retirement.
He urged related establishments to make sure that the measures produced tangible enhancements in pensioners’ lives.
Pension belongings rise, however issues persist
The Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, stated Nigeria’s pension belongings rose from N20.79 trillion in July 2024 to N31.8 trillion in August 2026.
The N11.01 trillion improve represents a couple of 53 per cent development over the interval.
However, she stated the enlargement of pension belongings had not translated into satisfactory retirement revenue for a lot of contributors, notably private-sector staff.
“Almost 70 per cent of private sector employees earn below the national minimum wage in retirement. More than 55 per cent of all retirees whose pensions fall below the minimum wage come from the private sector,” she stated.
Ms Oloworaran attributed the issue partly to employers calculating pension contributions on restricted parts of staff’ earnings moderately than their full remuneration.
She stated the statutory mixed pension contribution of 18 per cent includes 10 per cent from employers and eight per cent from staff, warning that insufficient pensionable earnings may weaken retirement advantages.
“Our private sector workers are retiring into poverty. This must change,” she stated.
The PenCom chief urged non-public employers to contribute to the Pension Protection Fund alongside the Federal Government and pension trade operators.
She additionally challenged pension fund directors to generate returns that exceed inflation, which continues to erode the buying energy of retirement financial savings.
“Beating inflation is not an aspiration. It is your job,” she stated.
Ms Oloworaran disclosed that the fee had secured commitments from pension trade operators to determine three million extra funded, energetic Retirement Savings Accounts inside the subsequent 12 months. The goal is meant to increase protection to staff at present excluded from formal pension preparations.
She additionally introduced that President Tinubu would launch the Pension Security Initiative on 10 November, incorporating PenCare and the minimal pension assure.
The fee additional directed pension fund directors and custodians to finish their recapitalisation by 30 June 2027.
“Every pension fund administrator and custodian must complete recapitalisation by 30th June 2027. We are not changing our minds,” she stated.
Highlighting current enhancements, Ms Oloworaran stated some federal retirees had acquired pension will increase starting from 67 to 120 per cent, whereas sure Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund pensioners recorded will increase exceeding 1,000 per cent.
She added that retired professors may now obtain pensions equal to their remaining salaries, whereas some retirement advantages had been being processed inside 48 hours.
The fee additionally introduced an exit profit scheme for retirees from treasury-funded federal ministries, departments and businesses, with symbolic cheques introduced on the occasion.
Tinubu warns towards dangerous investments
President Tinubu warned pension fund directors and custodians towards exposing staff’ retirement financial savings to reckless investments, insisting that the pursuit of upper returns or nationwide growth should not compromise contributors’ monetary safety.
He stated pension belongings should be managed with transparency, accountability and strict risk-management requirements.
Although pension financial savings may assist infrastructure growth and financial development, he stated funding choices should prioritise the pursuits of the employees whose contributions make up the funds.
“National development must never come at the expense of pensioners. Every investment must stand on its own merits, pass rigorous tests of risk and return, and serve the best interests of contributors,” he stated.
The president warned that inflation was weakening the buying energy of retirement financial savings, making it obligatory for pension operators to ship sustainable returns with out compromising capital preservation.
“Preservation without growth is a slow erosion. Retirement savings that fail to keep pace with inflation quietly betray the very people who saved them,” he stated.
He urged pension fund directors and custodians to strengthen their funding experience, diversify portfolios responsibly, cut back working prices and enhance accountability.
According to him, the pension trade’s efficiency ought to be measured by the monetary safety it delivers to retirees moderately than the quantity of belongings underneath administration.
The president additionally known as on PenCom to implement pension rules firmly and pretty, whereas urging public and private-sector employers to remit pension contributions absolutely and promptly.
He described the deduction of staff’ pension contributions with out transferring the cash to their Retirement Savings Accounts as a breach of belief.
The president additional known as on state governments, organised labour and different stakeholders to broaden pension protection, together with amongst merchants, artisans, farmers, transport operators and different self-employed Nigerians.
He stated the federal government would promote the Personal Pension Plan and new distribution channels to make retirement financial savings extra accessible to folks exterior standard salaried employment.
“Pensions for All must mean exactly that: all,” he stated.
He urged stakeholders to make sure the summit produced measurable commitments, together with elevated enrolment, quicker profit funds, improved funding efficiency and clearer disclosure of pension fund actions.
National Assembly opinions pension legal guidelines
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Pensions, Jallo Mohammed, stated the National Assembly was reviewing the Pension Reform Act 2014 and different pension-related laws.
He stated proposed amendments, together with laws regarding intelligence and army pensions, had been progressing by way of legislative consideration forward of public hearings.
Mr Mohammed additionally disclosed ongoing engagement with NNPC Pension Fund Limited over compliance with PenCom directives following years of regulatory issues.
He pledged continued legislative oversight to enhance pension administration, strengthen regulatory compliance and defend contributors’ retirement financial savings.
“Our shared objective must be to build a pension industry that not only protects the savings of today’s workers, but also guarantees greater financial security and dignity for future generations of retirees,” he stated.
Background
Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme was established underneath the Pension Reform Act 2004 and subsequently ruled by the Pension Reform Act 2014. The framework requires employers and staff in lined employment to contribute in the direction of retirement financial savings, with pension fund operators managing the amassed funds underneath regulatory oversight.
The scheme was launched to deal with weaknesses related to earlier pension preparations, together with delays in profit funds and the buildup of unfunded liabilities.
READ ALSO: PenCom urges SMEs to remit staff’ pensions, plan for retirement
However, some retirees have continued to face insufficient pension funds, delays in receiving accrued rights and difficulties assembly healthcare prices after leaving employment.
In October, PenCom introduced that the Federal Government’s pension intervention had been used to clear inherited accrued pension liabilities relationship again to 2007, with the fee reporting that 957,045 beneficiaries had been lined.
The fee has additionally recognized the Minimum Pension Guarantee and PenCare as measures meant to enhance the monetary safety and welfare of retirees.
President Tinubu stated the success of the reforms ought to finally be measured by their impact on pensioners’ lives.
“The true measure of our success will not be how much money the system holds. It will be how much security, and how much dignity, it delivers,” he stated.
Discover extra from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the most recent posts despatched to your e-mail.
