₦758 Billion Bond Clears Pension Backlog

The Nigerian government has cleared inherited pension liabilities dating back to 2007 through a N758 billion intervention bond, providing financial relief to 957,045 beneficiaries nationwide.

The Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this in her keynote address at the 2026 PenCom Media Conference in Lagos on Tuesday.

Her address was titled, ‘From Reform to Reality: Renewed Hope, Pension Security for All Nigerians’.

Oloworaran said the settlement marked a significant step towards clearing years of outstanding pension obligations inherited across successive administrations.

Speaking to journalists, industry stakeholders and media practitioners, the PenCom Director-General said the government had settled all inherited federal pension liabilities.

“The Federal Government cleared all inherited pension liabilities, some dating back to 2007. These obligations passed through multiple administrations, but this government chose to settle them. That is statesmanship—a debt paid, not just a promise,” she said.

She added that the payment demonstrated the government’s commitment to workers who had completed their years of service.

The settlement forms part of wider pension reforms implemented under President Bola Tinubu.

PenCom Introduces Faster Pension Payments

PenCom also disclosed that accrued pension rights for federal workers expected to retire by December 2029 had already been credited to their Retirement Savings Accounts.

The commission said this followed a one-time verification and enrolment exercise carried out ahead of schedule.

To prevent new pension backlogs, PenCom introduced its Zero Waiting Time Policy, which is designed to align retirement benefit payments with monthly public service salary cycles.

The policy is intended to allow workers to transition into retirement without delays in receiving their benefits.

The commission also said the time required to process pension benefits had been reduced from as long as 21 months to 48 hours.

Retirees Receive Higher Benefits

The conference also highlighted increased payments under existing pension schemes.

A statutory review of benefits for retirees of the defunct Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund resulted in an average 1,173 per cent increase for 2,116 retirees.

PenCom said it also paid N8.7 billion in outstanding arrears to the affected retirees.

Under Pension Boost 1.0, monthly payments through the Contributory Pension Scheme increased from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion, benefiting more than 241,000 retirees nationwide.

Oloworaran said the true measure of a government’s commitment to its workforce extended beyond how employees were treated during their years of service. She stressed that fulfilling pension obligations after retirement was equally important.

PenCare to Support Low-income Retirees

PenCom also announced plans for additional welfare programmes, including the PenCare free healthcare initiative.

The programme will initially target 30,000 low-income retirees.

Other planned measures include activating a statutory Minimum Pension Guarantee and expanding the Micro Pension Plan to informal-sector workers, including traders and artisans, through a nationwide agent network.