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…Gives civil servants till December to secure accrued rights
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has extended the deadline for the mandatory One-Time Online Verification and Enrolment Exercise for eligible Federal Government employees to December 31, 2026, giving thousands of civil servants additional time to secure and accurately establish their accrued pension rights.
The exercise, which commenced in February 2026, was originally scheduled to close on July 31. PenCom said the extension followed requests from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for additional time to enable more eligible employees to complete the digital enrolment process.
According to the Commission, the extension is particularly necessary because of the low level of participation recorded since the exercise began. As of July 2026, treasury-funded MDAs had uploaded 62,320 records of active employees and retirees, but only 31,099 employees had successfully completed the enrolment process.
The figures represent a significant gap against an estimated 150,000 active Federal Government employees believed to be entitled to accrued pension rights. PenCom has therefore urged employees who have not started the process, as well as those who began but have not completed their enrolment, to take advantage of the additional time before the new deadline.
The Commission said the exercise is designed to ensure that the accrued pension rights of eligible employees are properly determined ahead of retirement. The exercise covers employees of treasury-funded Federal Government MDAs who were in service as at June 30, 2004, when the relevant benefits under the former pension arrangement were earned.
The initiative is also part of the Federal Government’s effort to address pension liabilities inherited from the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), which preceded the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004. PenCom said the exercise is critical to determining the financial obligations arising from pension rights earned under the old scheme.
Under Section 15(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, employees who transited to the CPS are entitled to accrued pension rights representing benefits earned under the DBS. The rights include pension and gratuity benefits earned from an employee’s first appointment up to June 30, 2004, with the eventual value determined through an actuarial valuation process.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had, in a circular dated April 27, 2026, directed all treasury-funded MDAs to support the exercise and ensure that eligible employees complete the One-Time Enrolment. The directive is intended to help the Federal Government establish its outstanding pension liabilities and make appropriate budgetary provisions for their settlement.
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PenCom said the exercise is being conducted entirely online through its Contributions and Bond Redemption Application (COBRA) platform. The Commission described COBRA as a secure digital platform designed to facilitate the capture, validation and processing of information required for determining employees’ accrued pension entitlements.
The Commission also highlighted the financial benefits of completing the enrolment early. According to PenCom, once accrued pension rights are determined and the required funding is secured from the Federal Government, the approved amounts will subsequently be credited to the affected employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) ahead of retirement.
PenCom explained that early crediting of the accrued rights into employees’ RSAs could enable the funds to earn investment returns over time, thereby potentially increasing the retirement benefits available to the affected employees. The Commission consequently encouraged eligible workers not to wait until the new December deadline before completing the process.
Under the enrolment procedure, MDAs are responsible for uploading details of eligible employees onto the COBRA platform. The affected employees are then expected to approach their respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) with the required documents to complete the enrolment and verification process.
Pension Desk Officers (PDOs), who have been trained by PenCom, are also expected to play a central role by coordinating the exercise within their respective organisations and guiding employees through the enrolment requirements. PenCom said it is continuing to work with MDAs, PFAs and other stakeholders to improve awareness and remove barriers to participation.
The Commission urged all eligible employees and treasury-funded MDAs to treat the extension as an opportunity to complete the process rather than a reason for further delay. PenCom stressed that active employees of Federal Government treasury-funded MDAs who were in service as of June 30, 2004, fall within the provisions governing accrued pension rights.
With the new deadline now fixed for December 31, 2026, PenCom called on eligible civil servants to complete their enrolment as soon as possible. The Commission said full participation would help ensure accurate determination of accrued pension liabilities, facilitate appropriate government funding and ultimately protect the retirement benefits of workers who earned the entitlements under the former pension regime.
