The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced that pension benefit approvals, which previously took as long as 21 months, are now completed within 48 hours under a series of reforms designed to improve retirement services and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s pension system.
Speaking on Tuesday at the State House Meet the Press briefing in Abuja, Director-General Omolola Oloworaran said the 48-hour approval timeline is now a compulsory service standard for all Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), ensuring retirees gain faster access to their benefits.
Oloworaran stressed that the new approval timeline is no longer an aspirational target but a mandatory requirement binding on every Pension Fund Administrator.
“Benefits that once took months are now approved within 48 hours—not as a target, but as a mandate binding every Pension Fund Administrator,” she said.
The PenCom Director-General also disclosed that compliance with pension remittances has risen by 28 per cent, while the commission recovered more than N36 billion in outstanding pension contributions over the past two years. She noted that this surpasses the N28 billion recovered during previous years, reflecting stronger enforcement of employers’ pension obligations.
As part of efforts to strengthen social protection for retirees, Oloworaran announced that PenCom will launch the Minimum Pension Guarantee and PenCare within the next three months.
According to her, the Minimum Pension Guarantee will provide a guaranteed income for pensioners, while PenCare will deliver free healthcare services to the country’s most vulnerable retirees.
Highlighting recent government interventions, Oloworarandescribed the Federal Government’s N758 billion Pension Bond as one of the most significant pension interventions in Nigeria’s history. She said the bond enabled 957,045 retirees to receive pension liabilities that had remained outstanding since 2007.
She explained that the intervention transformed pension rights from being 21 months in arrears to a 41-month surplus.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a different choice. He chose to end that chapter,” she said.
The PenCom Director-General further announced plans to establish a nationwide pension distribution network through Accredited Pension Agents, an initiative intended to expand pension coverage across the country while creating employment opportunities.
She added that the commission is also developing new investment frameworks that will enable pension assets to support critical infrastructure projects—including roads, power, healthcare, education, and agriculture—without compromising the security of contributors’ funds.
Oloworaran revealed that pension assets increased from N20.79 trillion to N31.48 trillion within two years, representing growth of more than N10.7 trillion, or 51 per cent.
She attributed the increase to renewed public confidence in the Contributory Pension Scheme, noting that 938,229 additional Nigerians enrolled in the scheme during the period.
“Pension assets have grown from N20.79 trillion to N31.48 trillion… confidence is back. The system is growing, and over 938,000 more Nigerians now have retirement security,” she said.
Oloworaran also described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a pro-worker and pro-retiree leader, saying his administration had transformed pension administration into a system that promotes justice, dignity, and economic opportunity for retirees.
