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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said its newly introduced PenCare Retirement Health Insurance Scheme will ease the burden of medical expenses on retirees and improve their overall welfare.
The Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this at the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PenCAN) Conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
Oloworaran, who was represented by the Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Buwai, said the initiative was designed to address the high cost of healthcare, which she identified as one of the major expenses confronting retirees.
She explained that the scheme represented a new phase in the country’s pension reforms, shifting attention beyond the payment of monthly pensions to the overall dignity and well-being of retirees.
According to her, providing healthcare support would ease the pressure on pensioners’ monthly income, allowing them to channel their pensions towards other essential needs.
“We know that medical expenses form the bulk of expenses that a retiree has to deal with. So, in a way, it’s an indirect way of increasing pensions, increasing the pension portfolio, so that the retiree’s monthly pension can be available to take care of other needs,” she said.
The PenCom boss stressed that the scheme had been designed to remain sustainable and independent of changes in the leadership of the Commission.
She explained that PenCare would operate as a corporate social and community initiative funded by pension fund operators and PenCom, with provision for donor funding at the appropriate time.
According to her, the initiative is being overseen by an independent Board of Trustees chaired by a pioneer Director-General of PenCom, Mr M.K. Ahmed, alongside renowned professionals, academics and experts in actuarial science and the health sector.
Beyond healthcare, Oloworaran highlighted improvements in pension payments, disclosing that delays in the payment of retirement benefits had become a thing of the past, with eligible retirees now receiving their pensions within 48 hours of retirement.
She said the development marked a significant improvement from the previous situation, when approved pension rights were 21 months in arrears, to the current funding surplus of 41 months.
She explained that the 41-month surplus meant that the pension rights of enrolled Federal Government employees who were yet to retire had been funded up to December 2029.
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“In effect, their Retirement Savings Accounts are what I like to call ‘locked and loaded’, just waiting for the retiree to retire and access their pensions,” she said.
The PenCom boss also announced the activation of the Minimum Pension Guarantee, a provision in the Pension Reform Act of 2004 which had remained unimplemented for years due to funding constraints.
She said the initiative, unveiled by President Bola Tinubu on November 10, established a minimum monthly pension of N52,500 for eligible retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
According to her, pensioners receiving below the approved threshold would have their monthly payments automatically increased to N52,500.
She disclosed that the initiative had already commenced, with some beneficiaries receiving payment alerts reflecting the new minimum pension.
Oloworaran further disclosed that the Federal Government had approved an additional retirement benefit equivalent to 100 per cent of workers’ final emoluments, describing it as an intervention to address longstanding concerns about the absence of gratuity under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
She said the additional benefit, which took effect from January 2026, would provide retiring workers with extra financial support.
She explained that the Contributory Pension Scheme did not abolish the possibility of additional retirement benefits, noting that Section 4 of the Pension Reform Act allowed employers to provide benefits beyond mandatory pension contributions.
The PenCom boss added that eligible workers who retired in 2026 and had submitted their applications had already begun receiving the additional benefits.
She said the funding arrangements for the payments were progressing ahead of applications, assuring that the Commission remained committed to transparency and the effective implementation of its reforms.
Oloworaran reaffirmed PenCom’s commitment to working with the media to promote public understanding of developments in the pension industry.
