The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has paid ₦8.7 billion in outstanding pension arrears to retirees of the defunct Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), following a review that increased their monthly pensions after 21 years without an adjustment.
Omolola Oloworaran, PenCom director-general, disclosed this at the commission’s 2026 annual media conference in Abuja on Tuesday, saying the intervention was aimed at improving retirees’ welfare and addressing longstanding pension obligations.
She said the review increased the combined monthly pensions of 2,116 NSITF retirees from ₦12.56 million to ₦159.95 million, representing a 1,173 per cent increase.
According to Oloworaran, the retirees’ pensions had remained unchanged since 2005 until the commission invoked relevant legal provisions to approve the review.
“All arrears paid in full. Arrears totaling ₦8.7 billion, all paid in full,” she said.
The PenCom chief illustrated the impact of the adjustment with the case of a retiree whose monthly pension increased from ₦18,000 to ₦206,000.
“Twenty-one years of waiting answered in a single, simple decision,” she said.
Oloworaran said the intervention formed part of broader efforts to ensure that retirees receive adequate financial support after leaving active service.
She also disclosed that the commission’s Pension Boost 1.0 initiative had increased monthly pensions for more than 241,000 retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
She said the total monthly pension payments to the beneficiaries rose from ₦12.15 billion to ₦14.83 billion following the review.
The PenCom director-general added that the Federal Government had approved a ₦758 billion intervention to settle inherited pension liabilities, some of which had remained outstanding since 2007.
She said payments under the intervention had reached 957,045 beneficiaries.
On delays in retirement benefits, Oloworaran said the commission had reduced the processing time for pension approvals from as long as 21 months to 48 hours.
She described the 48-hour timeline as a mandatory service standard for pension fund administrators, rather than a target.
The commission also highlighted a new exit benefit for eligible employees of treasury-funded ministries, departments and agencies who have completed at least 10 years of qualifying service.
Under the arrangement, eligible retirees receive an additional payment equivalent to 100 per cent of their total annual emoluments, alongside their regular pension benefits.
Oloworaran said the first batch of 175 retirees received about ₦1.1 billion in August 2026.
She also warned employers against deducting pension contributions from workers’ salaries without remitting the funds to their retirement savings accounts.
“A deduction on a person that does not reach a retirement savings account is a breach of trust and a breach of the law. And I dare say, a criminal offence at that,” she said.
The PenCom chief said the commission had recovered ₦36.6 billion from defaulting employers as of July 2026, adding that recoveries in the current year had already exceeded the previous year’s record.
She further announced plans to introduce a healthcare programme for 30,000 low-income retirees during the forthcoming National Pension Week, with plans to extend coverage in subsequent phases.
PenCom also plans to operationalise a minimum pension guarantee for eligible retirees under the contributory scheme.
Oloworaran said the commission would continue pursuing reforms to improve pension adequacy, strengthen compliance and ensure workers and retirees receive the benefits due to them.
“The work is not finished. Coverage must widen. Compliance must deepen. Benefits must grow more adequately,” she said.
