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Employers with outstanding pension liabilities risk losing access to government contracts and other business opportunities as the National Pension Commission (PenCom) intensifies enforcement of compliance with pension laws.
The commission said employers with unpaid penalties for delayed remittance of workers’ pension contributions would be unable to obtain Pension Clearance Certificates (PCC), a requirement for certain government contracts and business transactions.
The Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2026 Annual PenCom Media Conference in Abuja, where she announced the introduction of an automated system for calculating penalties against defaulting employers.
She said the new system automatically calculates penalties when employers apply for pension clearance certificates, making the settlement of outstanding liabilities a condition for obtaining the documents.
“I would also note that the new system we just implemented for PCC auto-calculates penalties. So, if you are requesting a pension clearance certificate, and there are any delays in your remitting your pension, until you pay your penalties, you will not be able to get your pension clearance certificate,” Oloworaran said.
She explained that the measure was designed to strengthen compliance with the Pension Reform Act and ensure employers fulfil their obligations under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The PenCom boss said the commission was stepping up efforts to track employers who failed to remit pension contributions or delayed payments, despite existing legal provisions requiring timely remittances.
“But we are monitoring, and we are going after employers who are not contributing and also those who are not contributing in time as well,” she said.
Oloworaran also disclosed that the commission had extended its enforcement measures to business relationships involving pension operators and their partners, including restrictions on investments in companies that failed to remit pension contributions for their employees.
She cited First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank as examples of major financial institutions with affiliations in the pension industry that could support compliance efforts.
According to her, pension fund operators are prohibited from investing in companies that default on their pension obligations, including through investment placements and other financial transactions involving non-compliant organisations.
To strengthen recovery efforts, the commission has also engaged recovery agents to review employers’ records, establish outstanding pension liabilities and facilitate the recovery of unpaid contributions.
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Oloworaran disclosed that recoveries from defaulting employers had reached N36.6 billion as of July 2026, adding that recoveries recorded during the year had already surpassed the previous annual record.
She warned employers against deducting pension contributions from workers’ salaries without transferring the funds into their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs).
“A deduction on a payslip that does not reach a Retirement Savings Account is a breach of trust and a breach of the law,” she declared.
The Director-General further said PenCom expected complaints to receive responses within 24 hours, or within 48 hours where additional time was required.
Beyond compliance enforcement, she disclosed that pension assets rose from N20.79 trillion in July 2024 to N31.48 trillion in June 2026, representing an increase of N10.69 trillion.
She added that 938,229 additional Nigerians enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme within the period.
Oloworaran also said the Federal Government’s N758 billion pension bond intervention had benefited 957,045 people, with the funds substantially disbursed.
She noted that Pension Boost 1.0 had increased monthly payments to more than 241,000 retirees, raising aggregate monthly pension payments from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion.
Speaking on behalf of Pension Fund Administrators, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access ARM Pensions, Sa’adu Jijji, commended PenCom for introducing reforms to improve pension administration and the delivery of retirement benefits.
Jijji pledged the commitment of pension operators to implementing the commission’s initiatives and ensuring that the reforms translated into improved services for contributors and retirees.
In her remarks, the President of the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria, Nana Musa, called for greater professionalism and a deeper understanding of pension issues among journalists covering the industry.
Represented by the association’s Treasurer, Oluwakemi Kindness, Musa said accurate and balanced reporting was necessary to help Nigerians understand pension policies, retirement entitlements and regulatory developments.
