Tinubu Govt Clears Pension Backlog, Pays Federal Workers’ Benefits Up To 2029

PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering her keynote address at the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria Conference in Abuja, Naija News reports.

The development is seen as a major turnaround in the government’s pension funding, swiftly switching from a 21-month backlog to a 41-month surplus.

Oloworaran, who was represented by the commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Buwai, said the latest development means the government has paid the accrued pension rights of enrolled federal workers who are yet to retire up to December 2029.

She said, “We are moving from a position where we had, 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.”

The PenCom boss also said delays in pension payments had largely become a thing of the past, noting that retirees now receive their benefits within 48 hours of retirement.

According to her, the commission has also recorded progress with the launch of the PenCare health insurance programme and the ₦52,500 minimum pension guarantee by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday.

She explained that the PenCare programme would help reduce the medical expenses of retirees, allowing them to use more of their monthly pension payments to meet other needs.

Oloworaran said the programme was being 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 explained that retirees who currently receive less than N52,500 would have their monthly payments increased to the approved amount, subject to eligibility.

She added that some beneficiaries had already received payment alerts during Tuesday’s launch.

The PenCom Director-General further revealed that the Federal Government had approved additional exit benefits worth 100 per cent of terminal emoluments for eligible retirees, effective January 1, 2026.

She said some retirees who left service in 2026 and submitted the required documents had already received their payments.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Tolulope Odunaiya, said the agency had introduced remote verification to make life easier for pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme.

Odunaiya, represented by PTAD’s Head of Corporate Communications, Olugbenga Ajayi, said the new system would allow pensioners to complete their verification from different parts of the world without travelling to Nigeria.

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

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

In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Anthonia Ifeanyi-Okoro, called for more investment of pension funds in critical sectors of the economy.

Represented by Olajumoke Akinwa, she said pension assets could support the country’s $1 trillion economy target if properly invested in infrastructure, housing, energy and other productive sectors.

She, however, stressed that such investments must be made responsibly to protect workers’ retirement savings.

“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.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Awabah, Tunji Andrews, announced that the requirements for enrolling in the Personal Pension Plan had been reduced from 25 fields to just four.

Andrews said the move was designed to make pension registration easier, particularly for Nigerians working in the informal sector.

He added that the company had introduced pension registration and contribution payments through Point of Sale (POS) 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,” he said.

Andrews also announced a new initiative known as Pension Oga, which would deploy agents to markets and communities to register informal workers, collect their contributions and educate them on the importance of saving for retirement.

He called for increased public awareness to encourage more Nigerians to participate in the Personal Pension Plan.

Similarly, the acting Managing Director of NPF Pensions Limited, Mohammed Dutse, represented by Chukwuma Ohaka, commended improvements in pension administration, particularly efforts aimed at improving the welfare of retired police officers.

A representative of Citizens Pension Limited, Khayran-Yunusa Aliu, also called for greater financial inclusion through increased participation in the micro-pension scheme.

However, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Godwin Abumisi, called on the Federal Government to extend the newly approved additional exit benefits to retirees who left service between 2004 and December 2025.

Abumisi, who was represented by Ahmad Ibrahim-Gazali, said the earlier retirees should also benefit from the government’s new arrangement.

Copy link Copied! Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp Telegram Follow Naija News on Google Author: Richard Ogunsile Richard Ogunsile Joshua is an Assistant Editor at Naija News. He has a background in Computer Science from The Federal Polytechnic Bida, Bida, Niger State. Covering breaking news, politics, technology, and investigative journalism since 2018. Contact him at richard.ogunsile@naijanews.com