By Jelili Gbadamosi
The Federal Government has cleared outstanding accrued pension rights for enrolled federal workers and funded their benefits up to December 2029, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed.
The development represents a reversal of the previous 21-month funding backlog, with the government now recording a 41-month surplus in pension funding.
PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Wednesday at the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria Conference in Abuja.
Oloworaran, represented by the commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Buwai, said the development meant that accrued pension rights of enrolled federal employees yet to retire had been fully funded up to December 2029.
She also said delays in processing retirement benefits had largely been addressed, adding that pension payments were now being processed within 48 hours of retirement.
The PenCom chief highlighted other recent interventions, including the launch of the PenCare health insurance programme and the N52,500 minimum pension guarantee by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday.
According to her, PenCare, funded by pension operators and PenCom, is designed to reduce retirees’ medical expenses and enable them to use more of their monthly pensions for other needs.
She explained that an independent board of trustees chaired by the commission’s pioneer Director-General, Muhammad Ahmad, would oversee the programme.
On the minimum pension guarantee, Oloworaran said eligible retirees currently receiving below N52,500 would have their monthly pensions increased, disclosing that some beneficiaries had received payment alerts during the programme’s launch.
She further revealed that the Federal Government had approved additional exit benefits equivalent to 100 per cent of terminal emoluments for eligible retirees, effective January 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Tolulope Odunaiya, said the agency had introduced remote verification and improved life-status checks for pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme.
Odunaiya, represented by the Head of Corporate Communications, Olugbenga Ajayi, said the initiative would enable pensioners living within and outside Nigeria to complete their verification without geographical restrictions.
She also disclosed 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 responsible investment of pension assets in infrastructure, housing, energy and other productive sectors to support the country’s $1tn economy ambition.
Similarly, Awabah Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Andrews, disclosed that registration requirements for the Personal Pension Plan had been reduced from 25 fields to four to encourage participation among informal sector workers.
He said the company had also introduced pension registration and contribution payments through Point of Sale terminals in partnership with Moniepoint and Interswitch.
Andrews added that its Pension Oga initiative would deploy agents to markets and communities to register informal workers, collect contributions and promote pension savings.
However, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Godwin Abumisi, represented by Ahmad Ibrahim-Gazali, called on the government to extend the newly approved exit benefits to retirees who left service between 2004 and December 2025.
