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• Says N758bn bond will settle accrued pension rights
• Targets traders, artisans, farmers and other informal workers
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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has announced a new healthcare programme for low-income retirees and pledged to implement the Minimum Pension Guarantee, a provision of the Pension Reform Act 2014 that he said had remained unimplemented for more than 11 years.
The President also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to clearing outstanding pension obligations through the N758 billion Federal Government Pension Bond, declaring that no Nigerian who served the country would be abandoned in retirement.
Tinubu made the commitments on Thursday at the inaugural National Pension Week Leadership Summit in Abuja, where he was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
The new PenCare programme is designed to provide low-income retirees with access to essential healthcare, while the Minimum Pension Guarantee is expected to strengthen protection for pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Describing pensions as an obligation rather than a privilege, Tinubu said his administration was determined to restore confidence in the system and ensure that retirees received the benefits they had earned.
“A pension is not a favour granted by Government. It is a wage earned, deferred and held in trust. It is a promise. And this Administration has resolved that the promise will be kept,” he said.
The President said he inherited pension obligations that had been deferred for years, leaving retirees waiting for their accrued rights.
He said the N758 billion pension bond was approved to settle the outstanding obligations and strengthen the Pension Protection Fund, describing the intervention as restitution to Nigerians who had served the country.
“That was not an accounting exercise. It was an act of restitution to Nigerians who served their country and were made to wait for what they had earned,” he said through Akume.
On the Minimum Pension Guarantee, Tinubu said the provision had remained unfulfilled since the enactment of the Pension Reform Act in 2014, but pledged that his administration would implement it.
“Since enactment, that promise has never been honoured. Under President Tinubu, it will be,” Akume said.
The President’s announcements come amid efforts to strengthen retirement protection and extend pension coverage beyond workers in the formal sector.
He directed the National Pension Commission (PenCom), pension fund administrators and custodians to improve compliance, investment performance and transparency, warning that pension contributions must be managed in the best interests of contributors.
He specifically cautioned employers in both the public and private sectors against deducting workers’ pension contributions without remitting them promptly.
“To deduct a worker’s contribution and fail to remit it is not an administrative lapse. It is a breach of trust,” he said.
Tinubu also challenged pension fund administrators to deepen their expertise, diversify investments responsibly and reduce costs, insisting that the success of the pension system should be measured by the benefits contributors ultimately receive rather than the size of assets under management.
“Preservation without growth is a slow erosion. Retirement savings that fail to keep pace with inflation quietly betray the very people who saved them,” he warned.
While acknowledging the potential of pension assets to support infrastructure development and productive investment, the President said national development must not come at the expense of pensioners.
He stressed that every investment must undergo rigorous risk-and-return assessments and protect contributors’ interests.
Tinubu further directed an expansion of pension coverage to traders, artisans, farmers, transport workers and self-employed Nigerians through the Personal Pension Plan and new distribution channels.
“Pensions for All must mean exactly that: all,” he said, urging state governments, organised labour and other stakeholders to support wider enrolment and stronger compliance.
He said the summit must produce measurable commitments, including increased enrolment, faster payment of benefits, improved investment performance, clearer disclosure and more dignified retirement outcomes.
“The true measure of our success will not be how much money the system holds. It will be how much security, and how much dignity, it delivers,” the President said.
In recognition of his contributions to the pension sector, Akume received an award for Excellence in Pension Sector Leadership and Support at the summit.
