Nigeria's pension regulator says the Federal Government has paid enrolled federal employees' accrued pension rights up to December 2029, turning a 21-month backlog into a 41-month surplus.
Nigeria's Federal Government has funded the accrued pension rights of enrolled federal workers who have not yet retired through December 2029, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) said on Wednesday, 11 November, Punch and Premium Times report. Director-General Omolola Oloworaran, represented by the commission's head of corporate communications, Ibrahim Buwai, told the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria conference in Abuja that the government had moved from 21 months in arrears to a 41-month funding surplus.
Oloworaran said delays in paying retirement benefits had largely been eliminated, with benefits now processed within 48 hours of retirement. Premium Times notes that the timeline applies to retirement benefits under the arrangements PenCom described and is not a guarantee that every pension-related payment or liability is settled within that period.
She also pointed to two programmes launched by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday: PenCare, a healthcare scheme for pensioners funded by pension operators and PenCom, and a minimum pension guarantee that lifts eligible retirees receiving less than about US$33 (N52,500) a month to that level. The government has also approved additional exit benefits of 100 per cent of terminal emoluments for eligible retirees, effective 1 January 2026, according to Premium Times, amid demands from pensioners for better retirement benefits.
