The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced significant improvements in Nigeria’s pension administration, saying retirement benefit approvals that previously took months can now be completed within 48 hours.
The Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this at the 2026 PenCom Conference for Journalists in Abuja, where she highlighted the impact of ongoing reforms on retirees’ welfare and retirement security.
According to Oloworaran, the reforms have introduced a zero-waiting-time policy under which eligible Federal Government retirees begin receiving their pensions immediately after retirement, reducing the delays that previously affected beneficiaries.
She also revealed that the Federal Government had cleared outstanding pension liabilities dating back to 2007 through a ₦758 billion intervention approved by President Bola Tinubu. The intervention reportedly benefited approximately 957,000 retirees.
The commission’s Pension Boost 1.0 initiative has also increased monthly pension payments for more than 241,000 retirees, raising the aggregate amount from ₦12.15 billion to ₦14.83 billion. Some retirees on lower pensions reportedly received increases of up to 100 per cent.
Oloworaran further disclosed that pension assets grew from ₦20.7 trillion in July 2024 to ₦31.48 trillion in June 2026, representing an increase of more than ₦10.7 trillion. During the same period, 938,229 Nigerians joined the Contributory Pension Scheme.
As part of additional measures to improve retirement benefits, the government introduced an exit benefit scheme on 1 January 2026 for eligible employees of treasury-funded ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Workers who meet the requirements, including at least 10 years of qualifying service, are entitled to an additional benefit equivalent to 100 per cent of their annual emoluments, alongside their regular pension benefits.
The PenCom chief stated that the first 175 retirees under the scheme received approximately ₦1.1 billion in August.
She also announced plans to introduce two additional initiatives during National Pension Week, scheduled for 26 to 30 October 2026. These include PenCare, a programme intended to provide free healthcare to 30,000 low-income retirees at its initial stage, and a Minimum Pension Guarantee designed to establish a minimum pension level for eligible contributors.
On compliance, Oloworaran warned employers against deducting pension contributions from workers’ salaries without remitting the funds to the appropriate accounts. She said recoveries from defaulting employers had reached ₦36.6 billion as of July 2026.
The commission said the ongoing reforms are aimed at improving service delivery, strengthening confidence in the pension system and ensuring that Nigerian workers receive their retirement benefits promptly.
