Tinubu To Implement Minimum Pension Guarantee, Unveils PenCare For Retirees

President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to implement the Minimum Pension Guarantee under the Pension Reform Act 2014 and introduce a healthcare support programme for low-income retirees.

The President also said his administration had approved a N758bn pension bond to settle outstanding accrued pension rights and strengthen the Pension Protection Fund.

Tinubu disclosed this on Thursday at the inaugural National Pension Week Leadership Summit held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

He was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who delivered an address titled, “Pensions for All: Building a Secure Future Together.”

According to the President, his administration is committed to addressing pension-related challenges and ensuring that Nigerians who served the country receive their retirement benefits.

“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 said.

Tinubu said his administration inherited outstanding pension obligations that had left some retirees waiting for years to receive their accrued rights.

He described the N758bn pension bond as a step towards addressing the backlog and restoring the entitlements of affected retirees.

The President also pledged to implement the Minimum Pension Guarantee provision of the Pension Reform Act 2014, which he said had remained unimplemented since the law was enacted more than 11 years ago.

“Since enactment, that promise has never been honoured. Under President Tinubu, it will be,” Akume said on his behalf.

Tinubu further announced PenCare, a national retiree wellbeing programme that will initially provide access to essential healthcare for low-income pensioners.

He said the initiative was designed to expand pension protection beyond savings and benefit payments to address retirees’ healthcare needs.

The President described an effective pension system as essential to social protection and economic development, adding that pension assets could support long-term investments, deepen financial markets and finance productive enterprises.

He, however, warned that such investments must not compromise the interests of contributors.

Tinubu charged the National Pension Commission to enforce pension regulations fairly and firmly, while urging public and private sector employers to remit pension contributions promptly.

“To deduct a worker’s contribution and fail to remit it is not an administrative lapse. It is a breach of trust,” he said.

He also urged Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians to improve their expertise, diversify investments responsibly and reduce costs, stressing that the ultimate measure of performance should be the benefits contributors receive.

“Preservation without growth is a slow erosion. Retirement savings that fail to keep pace with inflation quietly betray the very people who saved them,” the President said.

Tinubu also called for the expansion of pension coverage to Nigerians working outside the formal sector, including traders, artisans, farmers, transport workers and other self-employed people.

He said the Personal Pension Plan and new distribution channels should provide such workers with accessible opportunities to save for retirement.

“Pensions for All must mean exactly that: all,” he said.

The President urged state governments, organised labour and other stakeholders to support efforts to increase enrolment, improve compliance, accelerate benefit payments and strengthen transparency in pension administration.

He said the summit should produce measurable commitments rather than end with speeches.

“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 said.

The statement was signed by Yomi Odunuga, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on October 29, 2026.