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• Says N458bn bond raised to clear arrears, insists reforms will not be reversed
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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has launched the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme, ending a 22-year delay in the implementation of a statutory provision designed to protect retirees from receiving pensions below a guaranteed minimum.
The President also unveiled PenCare, a healthcare initiative that will provide low-income retirees with access to essential medical services at no cost, declaring that no Nigerian worker who contributed under the Contributory Pension Scheme should be abandoned to poverty and ill health after retirement.
Tinubu, who announced the initiatives on Tuesday at the launch of the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives in Abuja, said the Minimum Pension Guarantee would take effect immediately and be administered by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) under the Pension Reform Act.
Represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu described the launch as a historic intervention to restore dignity to Nigerian pensioners, noting that successive administrations had failed to implement the guarantee despite its inclusion in pension legislation since 2004.
“Today, I dare say that lie ends here. By the authority vested in me as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I hereby declare the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme commenced with effect from today, to be administered by the National Pension Commission under the Pension Reform Act,” he said.
He added: “From this day, a floor within the Nigerian retirement system: no one who contributed under the Contributory Pension Scheme will ever be allowed to fall below. Not because this government is generous, but because it is their right.”
The President recalled that Section 71 of the Pension Reform Act 2004 provided for a guaranteed minimum pension for contributors, while Sections 82 and 84 of the 2014 amendment reaffirmed the provision and established a fund to finance it.
However, he lamented that 22 years and four presidential administrations after the initial provision, no retiree had received payment under the guarantee.
“Not one naira paid under that guarantee. Not one retiree given a floor. Not one government that stopped to ask what happens to those pensioners when their hospital bills arrive at home,” he said.
Tinubu said the launch was part of his administration’s broader commitment to ensuring that workers who devoted decades to national service could retire with financial security and access to healthcare.
On the PenCare initiative, he said the programme was designed to address the healthcare challenges confronting retirees, particularly those on low incomes, who often exhaust their retirement savings paying medical bills.
“A pension is more than a pay cheque. Ask any Nigerian what finished their father’s pension. It was not food. It was not rent. It was the hospital bill. One illness at 68 years can swallow 40 years of service and leave the children to carry the burden thereafter,” he said.
“A pension that cannot pay for medicine is not a pension. It is a receipt.”
He explained that PenCare would be funded through pension regulations and provide low-income retirees with free access to essential healthcare.
According to him, the first PenCare Health Access Cards would be distributed to pensioners in the coming months.
“For the first time in Nigerian history, the Nigerian retiree holds two things at once: an income that cannot fall below the floor and a card that opens the door of a hospital. That is social security,” he said.
The President also defended his administration’s economic reforms, arguing that the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of exchange rates were necessary decisions to rebuild the economy and secure the future of Nigerians.
He said the reforms had enabled the government to redirect resources towards infrastructure, education, credit facilities and the settlement of outstanding pension liabilities.
Tinubu disclosed that his administration had raised an N458 billion bond to clear outstanding pension arrears, insisting that the intervention had moved beyond promises to actual payments.
“We issued a bond of N458 billion and we paid them. I said we did not promise, we paid them,” he said.
He further disclosed that his administration had approved a consequential adjustment of N32,000 monthly for federal pensioners whose pensions were below the national minimum wage, saying the intervention lifted them to that level or above.
He also cited improvements in the pensions of retired workers under the Nigeria Airways legacy pension arrangement, noting that some beneficiaries who previously received as little as N80,000 monthly now collect up to N206,000.
The President said his administration had also introduced pension enhancements under the Contributory Pension Scheme, describing them as the first of their kind in the country’s history.
On the impact of subsidy removal on state finances, Tinubu said increased allocations had enabled state governments to address inherited pension obligations.
Citing a report by the World Bank, he said state revenues increased by about 93 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, while the proportion of state budgets allocated to capital projects rose from 46 per cent to 61 per cent.
He added that state governments had collectively spent more than N1 trillion on pension arrears.
“Every governor in this country, whether you like my party or not, now has more to work with than at any other time in the history of our country,” he said, commending state governments for deploying increased revenues to infrastructure, education and pension payments.
Tinubu also highlighted other interventions by his administration, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the National Credit Guarantee Company and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, saying they were designed to expand access to education, credit and economic opportunities.
He said more than 174,000 borrowers had benefited from over N64 billion in loans through the National Credit Guarantee Company, while the Consumer Credit Corporation had extended N53 billion in credit to more than 350,000 Nigerians across the country’s 774 local government areas.
According to him, women account for nearly six in 10 beneficiaries of the consumer credit scheme, while young people make up almost half.
The President maintained that the economic reforms were already yielding results and urged Nigerians not to support any attempt to reverse them.
Taking a swipe at opposition politicians, Tinubu challenged those who previously held public office to explain why they failed to implement the minimum pension guarantee during their time in government.
“Do not listen to what they promise you. Promises are free. Look at what they did when they were in power in the past,” he said.
He specifically questioned what pension protections had been provided by previous administrations, asking: “Which retiree did you guarantee? Which pensioner did you insure? And which floor did you erect at the start?”
Tinubu argued that Nigerians should assess political leaders based on their records rather than campaign promises, insisting that reversing his administration’s reforms would undermine the gains already recorded in state revenues, infrastructure development and pension payments.
He also warned employers against failing to remit workers’ pension contributions, describing such funds as the property of employees and their future security.
“Let them be known and be clear. Remit your workers’ contributions. Every naira you hold is stolen from somebody’s old age. It is not your money,” he warned.
The President assured Nigerian workers that their years of service would no longer end in uncertainty, urging young employees to recognise the importance of pension contributions from the beginning of their careers.
“To our young people, the pension you begin in your twenties is a dignity you own in your seventies,” he said.
He added: “To every Nigerian worker fighting for this great nation, this country stands behind you. I know that. I see it and I honour your sacrifice. Keep building. The Nigeria you are working for has a promise waiting for you at the end of your service. That promise is the law. From today, it is the law that pays.”
Earlier, the Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed that the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme was targeting more than 170,000 retirees whose monthly pensions fall below N52,500, assuring that all eligible beneficiaries would be brought up to the threshold.
She added that the scheme covered retirees in both the public and private sectors under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), stressing that it was not restricted to federal government workers.
She disclosed that 54 per cent of retirees whose pensions fall below the minimum threshold were from the private sector, adding that more than 65 per cent of private-sector retirees currently received less than N52,500 monthly.
She, however, explained that states would be required to contribute to the Pension Protection Fund before their retirees could benefit from the minimum pension guarantee, to ensure the long-term sustainability of the initiative.
“We are targeting over 170,000. Every eligible retiree to end below N52,500 will be brought up to N52,500. So, everybody, there’s no discrimination. If you are within the CPS, you will get it,” she said.
She added that the commission was working out the modalities for state governments to begin contributing to the Pension Protection Fund, warning that the scheme must have a sustainable funding structure to avoid a situation where it would run out of resources.
Oloworaran also disclosed that the PenCare healthcare initiative had commenced, with close to 30,000 retirees already enrolled, adding that the commission expected the number to reach 30,000.
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She said about 25,000 beneficiaries had been captured as of the last update available to her, while the first batch of retirees had already received their healthcare access cards.
According to her, the presentation of the cards at the launch was symbolic, as the commission had conducted an earlier pilot to test the system before its public unveiling.
“It has been rolled out and Nigerians can now enter into a hospital and enjoy healthcare. What we did today was symbolic, but from today, anybody who doesn’t have their card can go to their Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) and demand for their card,” she said.
Responding to concerns that the initiatives were being launched close to the 2027 general elections and could be politically motivated, the PenCom chief dismissed suggestions that the programmes were designed to influence the electoral process.
She said the commission had consistently introduced pension reforms and interventions since she assumed office in July 2024, insisting that the latest initiatives were part of an ongoing reform agenda.
“Is there ever a time that is bad for doing good for ordinary Nigerians, for putting a smile on people’s faces?” she asked.
She cited previous interventions, including pension enhancements introduced last year, the N32,000 consequential adjustment for federal pensioners and the January 2026 increase in benefits for former Nigeria Airways pensioners under the NSITF arrangement.
Oloworaran said the launch had initially been scheduled for September but was shifted to October and subsequently to November following adjustments by the pension industry.
She maintained that PenCom’s responsibility was to implement its mandate rather than engage in partisan politics.
“We don’t get involved in politics here. We just do our work. But guess what? If my work makes the President look good, it means I’m doing what he has hired me to do,” she said.
She added: “We’ve been doing back-to-back initiatives from July 2024, when I took office. We started working, and we haven’t stopped working. We will continue to work.”
On the enforcement of pension contributions, Oloworaran said PenCom was strengthening collaboration with enforcement agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to compel employers to comply with pension obligations.
She said the commission was determined to make life difficult for employers who failed to remit workers’ pension contributions, adding that its ultimate goal was to ensure that every employer in Nigeria complied with the pension scheme.
According to her, pension contributions should not be limited to formal organisations, as households employing full-time domestic workers were also expected to comply with pension regulations.
“We want to make life difficult for employers who are not enforcing pensions. My dream and vision for this country is that every single employer has to face pensions, just as it happens in the West,” she said.
On state pension liabilities, the PenCom Director-General clarified that the total amount pledged by state governments to address outstanding legacy pension obligations since Tinubu assumed office was N1.07 trillion, not N1.7 trillion as earlier reported.
She explained that the Federal Government was not responsible for directly funding the states’ legacy pension obligations, but that the economic reforms introduced by Tinubu had increased allocations available to state governments to meet their responsibilities.
“The states collectively, since the President took office, have pledged N1.07 trillion in pension legacy obligations at state level. The government isn’t the one to fund it. The Federal Government is not. The states are funding it themselves,” she said.
She added that the increased resources available to states had created room for spending on infrastructure and the welfare of retirees.
Reacting to reports that some state pensioners were receiving as little as N5,000 monthly, Oloworaran described such payments as unacceptable and said PenCom would investigate the claims.
“Receiving N5,000 is unacceptable. I do hope it’s not true. I will tell my team to confirm,” she said.
She said the commission was working with state governments to ensure regular payment of retirement benefits and to introduce plans for pension reviews to address the impact of inflation.
Oloworaran said the ultimate objective was to bring more states into sustainable pension arrangements and ensure that their retirees benefited from the Pension Protection Fund.
The Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group, Tony Elumelu, for his part, said economic prosperity must be inclusive and translate into improved living conditions for all Nigerians, including those who had completed their years of active service.
He particularly commended the Nigerian pension industry, under the leadership of PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran, for funding the PenCare initiative.
He described the intervention as a demonstration of what responsible institutions could achieve when they prioritised the welfare of citizens.
“Growth must translate into improved lives, and our institutions must work for all Nigerians, including those who have completed their years of active service,” he said.
He assured the Federal Government of the private sector’s readiness to support policies and partnerships that strengthen institutions, promote financial inclusion and build a more secure future for Nigerians.
“The private sector stands ready to support policies and partnerships that strengthen our institutions, deepen financial inclusion and build a more secure future for all Nigerians.
“A society that protects its elderly is good to its young, and a nation that honours its workers inspires tomorrow’s and today’s workforce,” Elumelu said.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Pensions, Honourable Hussaini Jalo, described the launch as a landmark development in the country’s efforts to build an inclusive and sustainable retirement security system.
Jalo, who was represented at the event, said the initiatives addressed two fundamental concerns of retirees: access to affordable healthcare and adequate pension benefits.
He commended Tinubu for approving the N758 billion pension bond to address outstanding pension liabilities, including funding for the Pension Protection Fund, describing the intervention as a demonstration of commitment to the welfare of retirees and confidence in the pension system.
He also praised PenCare as an industry-funded initiative designed to provide healthcare support for low-income retirees, beginning with a pilot programme and progressively expanding its coverage.
Jalo assured that the House of Representatives would provide the necessary legislative oversight to ensure that the initiatives delivered benefits to pensioners.
He said the National Assembly remained committed to strengthening pension governance, enforcing compliance with pension obligations and supporting reforms that would make the system more resilient.
The lawmaker also called for sustained collaboration between federal and state governments in addressing pension liabilities and improving pension administration.
In his goodwill message, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Cyril Fasuyi, commended the Federal Government and PenCom for the initiatives, describing them as significant milestones in the country’s pension reform journey.
Fasuyi said the Minimum Pension Guarantee would give practical effect to Section 84 of the Pension Reform Act 2014, which provides for a guaranteed minimum pension for eligible retirees, while PenCare would address the healthcare needs of low-income pensioners.
He reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to providing legislative support and effective oversight to ensure that the initiatives translated into measurable benefits for retirees and contributors without undermining the long-term sustainability of the Contributory Pension Scheme.
He also urged state governments yet to establish sustainable pension arrangements to intensify efforts to secure the retirement future of their workers and to meet their pension obligations promptly.
Earlier, another pension industry stakeholder, speaking on the growth of the sector, said Nigeria’s pension assets had risen to about N33 trillion, expressing optimism that the industry could grow to N50 trillion by December 2027.
He said the projection followed engagements with PenCom and study visits to Kenya and the United Kingdom, where stakeholders examined pension administration models in other countries.
He also commended Tinubu for approving the N758 billion pension bond and the National Assembly for approving the appropriation that facilitated its release.
A former public office holder, who also spoke at the event, described the President’s pension interventions as revolutionary, saying he had personally benefited from an increase in his pension after retirement.
He said the additional income had made a difference to his ability to meet routine expenses after years of public service.
He stressed the importance of caring for elderly citizens, noting that societies that honour and support their older generations reap lasting benefits.
