Monthly pension payments to retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) have risen by 22 per cent to N14.83 billion following the implementation of the Federal Government’s pension increase.
The Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this yesterday at a media briefing in Lagos.
She said more than 241,000 retirees under the CPS benefited from the first phase of the pension increase.
Oloworaran also disclosed that the Federal Government had cleared N758 billion in inherited pension liabilities, benefiting 957,045 pensioners.
The PenCom DG, who highlighted major developments in Nigeria’s pension sector under the theme, “From Reform to Reality: Renewal of Pension Security for Nigerians,” said some of the liabilities dated back to 2007 and had been carried over from one administration to another.
She said the N758 billion intervention by the Federal Government had brought relief to nearly one million Nigerians.
Oloworaran further disclosed that the pensions of 2,116 retirees of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) had been increased by an average of 1,173 per cent, ending 21 years of stagnant pension payments.
According to her, the review increased the combined monthly pensions of the affected NSITF retirees from N12.6 million to N159.95 million, while N8.7 billion in pension arrears had been paid in full.
She said the NSITF pensions had remained unchanged since 2005 until the Federal Government invoked the relevant law to undertake a comprehensive review.
Giving an example of the impact of the review, Oloworaran said a retiree who previously received about N18,000 monthly now receives N206,000.
She also said the Federal Government had introduced a zero-waiting-time policy under which federal retirees would begin receiving their pensions upon retirement, in line with the monthly salary cycle.
According to her, retirement benefits that previously took up to 21 months to process are now processed within 48 hours for federal government workers with accrued rights.
In the private sector, Oloworaran said the approval period for retirement benefits had also been reduced from as much as two weeks to 48 hours.
She added that, through a one-time verification and enrolment exercise, accrued pension rights had been credited to the Retirement Savings Accounts of enrolled federal employees due to retire up to December 2029.
However, she said work would continue until all outstanding accrued rights owed to government workers were fully settled.
The PenCom DG also disclosed that Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) now have an exit benefit scheme, which commenced on January 21, 2026.
Oloworaran said the various measures demonstrated a shift from pension reform policies to the actual delivery of retirement benefits and improved pension security for Nigerians.
