The Federal Government has cleared all inherited pension liabilities dating back to 2007 through a N758 billion intervention bond, bringing relief to 957,045 beneficiaries nationwide.
The Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, announced this on Tuesday at the 2026 PenCom Media Conference in Lagos.
Speaking on the theme “From Reform to Reality: Renewed Hope, Pension Security for All Nigerians,” Oloworaran said the payment ends decades of delayed benefits inherited across successive administrations.
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“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 noted that how a government treats its workforce in retirement reflects how much it values their service.
Oloworaran said accrued pension rights for federal employees due to retire up to December 2029 have already been credited to their Retirement Savings Accounts following a comprehensive verification and enrolment exercise.
To forestall future backlogs, she said PenCom has introduced a Zero Waiting Time Policy to align pension payments with monthly salary cycles, ensuring seamless transition into retirement. She added that benefit processing time has been cut from 21 months to 48 hours.
The Commission also announced a review for retirees of the defunct Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund. The 21-year review led to an average 1,173 per cent increase in monthly payouts for 2,116 NSITF retirees, with N8.7 billion arrears fully settled.
Under the Pension Boost 1.0 initiative, monthly disbursements under the Contributory Pension Scheme rose from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion, increasing monthly payments for over 241,000 retirees.
Oloworaran further unveiled upcoming welfare programmes, including the PenCare free healthcare support scheme to pilot with 30,000 low-income retirees, the activation of a statutory Minimum Pension Guarantee, and expansion of the Micro Pension Plan to cover informal sector workers through a nationwide agent network.
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