Nigerian government establishes pension fund to guarantee minimum monthly income

The Nigerian Federal Government established a N400 billion Pension Protection Fund to provide a minimum monthly pension of N52,500 for eligible retirees.

Omolola Oloworaran, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), announced the initiative in Abuja to support retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme. The new floor aims to increase the monthly income of pensioners who currently receive less than the approved threshold, including some who earn just over N20,000.

The initiative fulfills a provision from a 2004 pension reform law that previous administrations did not fund or implement. The program covers 173,209 retirees across the public and private sectors. Oloworaran noted that more than 65% of private-sector retirees currently receive payments below the new minimum. She urged private companies to contribute to the fund to support these workers. The pension industry also raised over N7 billion to provide health insurance for nearly 30,000 low-income retirees through the PenCare initiative.

Additionally, the Federal Government helped states clear N1.07 trillion of legacy pension debts. PenCom plans to expand pension coverage to informal-sector workers, such as farmers and traders, by using agents in local communities and markets.