The Federal Government has cleared outstanding pension obligations for enrolled federal workers, with accrued pension rights now funded up to December 2029, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said.
PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria conference.
Oloworaran, who was represented by the commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Buwai, said the government had moved from a 21-month pension funding deficit to a 41-month surplus.
She explained that the development meant pension rights accumulated by enrolled federal workers who were yet to retire had been funded through December 2029.
According to her, eligible retirees are also receiving their retirement benefits within 48 hours of retirement.
The announcement comes days after President Bola Tinubu introduced a N52,500 minimum pension guarantee and the PenCare health insurance initiative for retirees.
PenCom said 173,209 retirees had been identified as beneficiaries of the minimum pension guarantee.
Oloworaran further disclosed that the Federal Government had approved an additional exit benefit equivalent to 100 per cent of retirees’ terminal emoluments, with effect from January 1, 2026.
The benefit applies to federal civil servants in treasury-funded ministries, departments and agencies who have served for a minimum of 10 years.
Meanwhile, discussions at the conference also focused on expanding pension coverage among workers in the informal sector.
PenCom’s Personal Pension Plan (PPP) provides voluntary retirement savings opportunities for self-employed individuals and workers in organisations with fewer than three employees.
However, the commission’s first-quarter 2026 data showed that although 219,316 accounts had been opened under the scheme as of March, only 18,811 had received contributions, leaving 200,505 accounts without funding.
Speaking at the event, Awabah Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Andrews, said the requirements for registering under the scheme had been reduced from 25 fields to four.
He added that the company had partnered with Moniepoint and Interswitch to facilitate registration and pension contributions through point-of-sale terminals.
Andrews also announced that Awabah’s Pension Oga initiative would deploy agents to markets and communities to educate informal workers, facilitate their registration and collect pension contributions.
He said the measures were designed to simplify access to the pension scheme and encourage more informal sector workers to save towards retirement.
However, PenCom’s figures indicate that increasing enrolment remains only part of the challenge, as ensuring regular contributions from registered members is another major concern.
