• Oloworaran forecloses June 2027 recapitalisation deadline for pension directors, custodians
• Laments 70% of non-public sector retirees earn under minimal wage, threat poverty
•PenCom targets 3 million funded pension accounts
Olawale Ajimotokan and James Emejo in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerian retirees that no citizen who served the nation might be forgotten in retirement, declaring that his administration is dedicated to restoring dignity and monetary safety to pensioners by way of the N758 billion Federal Government Pension Bond and different pension reforms.
Tinubu gave the peace of mind yesterday on the inaugural National Pension Week Leadership Summit in Abuja, the place he reaffirmed his administration’s dedication to addressing excellent pension obligations and bettering the welfare of retirees.
That was as Director-General of National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms Omolola Oloworaran, dominated out any extension of the June 30, 2027 recapitalisation deadline for Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).
Oloworaran urged operators to strengthen their monetary capability or threat falling brief of the regulator’s necessities.
Speaking on the summit, she careworn that the fee wouldn’t shift the deadline, including that the following part of pension reform would prioritise institutional resilience, stronger funding efficiency, and improved retirement advantages over the expansion in business belongings alone.
Tinubu, who was represented on the summit by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, mentioned pension advantages weren’t privileges granted by the federal government, however entitlements earned by way of years of service to the nation.
He said, “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.”
The president mentioned his administration inherited pension obligations that had remained unsettled for years, leaving many retirees ready for his or her accrued pension rights.
He maintained that the approval of the N758 billion Federal Government Pension Bond was a serious step in the direction of settling the excellent obligations and strengthening the Pension Protection Fund.
Tinubu mentioned, “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.”
The president added that the bond shaped half of broader efforts to revive confidence within the Contributory Pension Scheme and be certain that staff who devoted their productive years to nationwide service might retire with better peace of thoughts.
He additionally introduced that his administration would implement the Minimum Pension Guarantee provision of the Pension Reform Act 2014, which he said had remained unimplemented because the regulation was enacted greater than 11 years in the past.
“Since enactment, that promise has never been honoured. Under President Tinubu, it will be,” he mentioned.
Tinubu unveiled PenCare, a nationwide retiree wellbeing programme designed to offer low-income retirees with entry to important healthcare companies, signalling a broader strategy to retirement safety past the cost of pension advantages.
He mentioned a sustainable pension system should defend retirees in opposition to monetary hardship whereas making certain that their healthcare and welfare wants acquired satisfactory consideration.
The president careworn that attaining the aims required the cooperation of all stakeholders within the pension business.
He charged the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to implement pension legal guidelines with out concern or favour, whereas urging private and non-private sector employers to remit pension contributions absolutely and promptly.
“To deduct a worker’s contribution and fail to remit it is not an administrative lapse. It is a breach of trust,” he warned.
He additionally referred to as on Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians to enhance their funding methods, scale back prices and be certain that retirement financial savings delivered significant returns to contributors.
According to him, pension fund investments should stability the safety of contributors’ financial savings with disciplined progress, significantly in an economic system the place inflation can erode the buying energy of retirement advantages.
Tinubu directed a renewed push to increase pension protection to staff within the casual sector, together with merchants, artisans, farmers, transport staff, and self-employed Nigerians, by way of the Personal Pension Plan and improved distribution channels.
He urged state governments, organised labour, and different stakeholders to work in the direction of increasing pension protection, bettering compliance, and accelerating the cost of retirement advantages.
The president said that the success of the reforms would in the end be measured by the extent of safety and dignity delivered to pensioners, slightly than the quantity of belongings accrued by the pension system.
He mentioned, “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.”
Tinubu declared, “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.”
For her half, Oloworaran mentioned, “We are not changing our minds,” insisting that operators should exhibit the monetary power required to safeguard the retirement financial savings of hundreds of thousands of Nigerian staff.
“Size is what we have achieved. Strength is what we now demand,” she added.
The recapitalisation drive comes as PenCom confronts persistent weaknesses in pension adequacy, with nearly 70 per cent of private-sector workers retiring on pensions under the nationwide minimal wage, exposing a spot between years of employment and monetary safety in outdated age.
Oloworaran disclosed that greater than 55 per cent of retirees receiving pensions under the minimal wage got here from the non-public sector, describing the scenario as unacceptable and calling for a broader assessment of how retirement advantages have been funded.
She mentioned, “Our private sector workers are retiring into poverty. This must change.”
She attributed the issue, partly, to the calculation of pension contributions on pensionable earnings slightly than staff’ full emoluments, a follow that may go away retirement financial savings considerably under what workers’ precise earnings may assist.
Under the prevailing framework, employers contribute 10 per cent of pensionable pay whereas workers contribute eight per cent, bringing the statutory price to 18 per cent.
However, Oloworaran identified that the contribution base, alongside funding efficiency and compliance failures, affected the adequacy of advantages in the end paid to retirees.
She urged private-sector employers to take better duty for shielding staff’ retirement incomes, together with supporting the Pension Protection Fund, which already receives contributions from the federal authorities and the pension business.
According to her, the fee of offering a minimal pension assure shouldn’t relaxation solely on public assets when non-public companies additionally profit from staff’ labour.
She added that PenCom would deploy the enforcement provisions of the Pension Reform Act to get better unpaid contributions and sanction employers who deduct pension contributions from staff’ salaries with out remitting them.
She warned that such defaults undermined staff’ future monetary safety and wouldn’t be handled as mere administrative lapses.
Beyond compliance, the fee expects pension operators to generate returns that protect the buying energy of retirement financial savings, significantly as inflation erodes the worth of accrued contributions.
Oloworaran mentioned pension efficiency have to be assessed by the actual returns delivered to contributors slightly than nominal beneficial properties that fail to maintain tempo with rising costs.
Targets Three Million Funded Accounts
In a parallel push to broaden pension protection, PenCom secured commitments from PFAs to open three million extra funded and energetic pension accounts inside one 12 months, focusing on Nigerians outdoors the formal payroll system.
The initiative is predicted to carry extra merchants, artisans, farmers, transport operators and different self-employed staff into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by way of private pension plans, accredited pension brokers, and digital onboarding platforms.
Oloworaran careworn that the goal was not merely to register new individuals however to make sure that contributions truly flowed into their accounts.
“An empty account is a statistic, but a funded account is a future,” she mentioned.
She said that Nigeria continued to face a considerable pension protection hole, with roughly 9 Nigerians outdoors the scheme for each one coated, leaving hundreds of thousands uncovered to monetary insecurity in outdated age.
The proposed enlargement would shift the scheme past its conventional focus on salaried staff, enabling participation by individuals whose livelihoods will not be tied to formal employment.
Minimum Pension Guarantee, PenCare Set for November
Oloworaran additionally mentioned Tinubu was anticipated to launch a Pension Security Initiative on November 10, topic to the programme continuing as scheduled.
The initiative is predicted to incorporate the minimal pension assure and PenCare, a healthcare programme designed to enhance medical entry for retirees.
She mentioned the minimal pension assure, supplied for below Sections 82 and 84 of the Pension Reform Act 2014, ought to now not stay an unfulfilled dedication, significantly for susceptible pensioners struggling to fulfill important dwelling prices.
The goal, she defined, was to offer a measure of safety for retirees who threat selecting between meals and drugs as a result of of insufficient pension funds.
However, she acknowledged the significance of sustainable funding and wider stakeholder participation in making certain that the proposed security internet delivered significant assist.
PenCom can be searching for to deepen the function of pension belongings in financing infrastructure, housing, energy and enterprise, whereas sustaining strict safeguards for contributors’ funds.
Oloworaran mentioned business belongings had elevated from N20.79 trillion in July 2024 to N31.8 trillion on the finish of August 2026, a rise of about N11 trillion in simply over two years.
She said that the buildup of belongings should translate into stronger retirement outcomes, including that pension funds might assist nationwide growth solely the place investments met acceptable threat and return necessities.
She mentioned, “Pension money is not government money. It is not industry money. It is the deferred wages of Nigerian workers.”
She maintained that the safety of contributors’ financial savings should take priority over broader growth aims, even when pension investments have been deployed to assist financial progress.
The fee can be urgent for improved compliance amongst employers and state governments, together with wider adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme by states.
Oloworaran referred to as on operators, employers, labour unions, and governments to assist the reforms.
She mentioned a stronger pension business should ship each wider protection and satisfactory advantages slightly than merely report rising belongings below administration.
