FG clears pension rights of federal workers up to December 2029 – PenCom

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Read History Go to My Account Log Out Enhanced by Google News FG clears pension rights of federal workers up to December 2029 – PenCom …says pension payments now processed within 48 hours of retirement The Federal Government has cleared the accrued pension rights

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The Federal Government has cleared the accrued pension rights of enrolled federal workers up to December 2029, moving from a 21-month funding backlog to a 41-month surplus, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) says.

Omolola Oloworaran, PenCom’s Director-General, disclosed this on Wednesday in her keynote address at the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria Conference in Abuja.

Oloworaran, who was represented by Ibrahim Buwai, the commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, said the development meant that the accrued pension rights of federal employees who had enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and were yet to retire had been funded well ahead of time.

“We are moving from a position 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.

She also disclosed that delays in the payment of retirement benefits had largely been eliminated, with pension payments now processed within a maximum of 48 hours after retirement.

“The issue of delays in the payment of pensions has now become history, and now pensions are being paid within a maximum of 48 hours from retirement,” Oloworaran said.

The PenCom chief attributed the improvements to ongoing reforms in pension administration, adding that the commission was working to strengthen retirees’ financial security and improve the efficiency of benefit payments.

Oloworaran also highlighted the launch of the PenCare health insurance programme and the N52,500 minimum pension guarantee by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday.

She explained that PenCare was designed to reduce the healthcare expenses of retirees, enabling them to use a larger portion of their monthly pensions to meet other needs.

According to her, the programme is funded by pension operators and PenCom, with an independent board of trustees chaired by the commission’s pioneer Director-General, Muhammad Ahmad.

On the minimum pension guarantee, she said eligible retirees receiving less than N52,500 monthly would have their pensions augmented to meet the approved threshold.

She added that some beneficiaries had already received payment alerts during the launch of the initiative.

The minimum pension guarantee is part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to strengthen retirement security and provide additional support for vulnerable pensioners under the CPS.

The PenCom DG further disclosed that the Federal Government had approved additional exit benefits equivalent to 100 per cent of terminal emoluments for eligible retirees, effective January 1, 2026.

“The Federal Government has just approved the payment of 100 per cent of terminal emoluments as additional exit benefits,” she said.

She added that eligible workers retiring in 2026 who had submitted the required documentation had begun receiving the payments.

Also speaking, Tolulope Odunaiya, the executive secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), said the agency had introduced remote verification and enhanced life-status checks for pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme.

Odunaiya, represented by Olugbenga Ajayi, PTAD’s head of corporate communications, said the initiative would enable pensioners to complete their verification without having to travel to designated centres.

“With the new initiative of this verification without borders, pensioners in the US, in Uganda, in our villages can also do their verification,” she said.

She also disclosed that registration had commenced for PTAD’s proposed health insurance programme ahead of its formal launch.

Pension operators seek investment in productive sectors

Anthonia Ifeanyi-Okoro, Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, also called for responsible investment of pension assets in infrastructure, housing, energy and other productive sectors to support the country’s $1 trillion economy ambition.

Ifeanyi-Okoro, represented by Olajumoke Akinwa, said pension funds could play a significant role in financing economic growth while safeguarding contributors’ retirement benefits.

“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.

In his remarks, Tunji Andrews, Chief Executive Officer of Awabah, disclosed that the requirements for enrolment in the Personal Pension Plan had been reduced from 25 fields to four to make registration easier for informal-sector workers.

He said the innovation had enabled the onboarding of contributors and collection of pension payments through Point of Sale terminals in partnership with Moniepoint and Interswitch.

“As of today, those fields have been reduced to four fields only. Because of that innovation, we’ve been able to put onboarding and payments for PPP on POS terminals,” Andrews said.

He also announced the launch of an initiative known as Pension Oga, which would deploy agents to markets and communities to register informal workers, collect contributions and educate Nigerians on the importance of pension savings.

Andrews called for increased public awareness to expand participation in the Personal Pension Plan, particularly among workers in the informal sector.

Mohammed Dutse, The acting Managing Director of NPF Pensions Limited, represented by Chukwuma Ohaka, commended improvements in pension administration, particularly efforts to strengthen the welfare of retired police officers.

A representative of Citizens Pension Limited, Khayran-Yunusa Aliu, also called for greater financial inclusion through expanded participation in the micro-pension scheme. Godwin Abumisi, The National President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, represented by Ahmad Ibrahim-Gazali, called on the Federal Government to extend the newly approved additional exit benefits to workers who retired between 2004 and December 2025.