Retirees numbering 233,000 will benefit from newly increased monthly pension payments, rising from N8.3 billion to N11.9 billion from June 2025.
The 43.4 percent jump in monthly pension payment approved by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) is for retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), and becomes effective June 2025.
Omolola Oloworaran, director general, PenCom who disclosed this during a quarterly media press briefing in Lagos said this is not a token gesture, it is a strategic leap enabled by strong Retirement Savings Account (RSA) investment performance and visionary economic reforms.
“Effective June 2025, total monthly pension payments under the CPS will increase from N8.3 billion to N11.9 billion, directly benefiting over 233,000 retirees, depending on their pension account balances”.
Oloworaran said this raise is driven by the Commission’s new Modified Standard Pension Enhancement Template, a structural, transparent mechanism to adjust pensions upward as investment returns increase.
The DG who addressed the press after its inaugural Pension Industry Leadership Retreat themed: ‘Sustainable Retirement, a Strategic Blueprint for Economic Development and Inclusion, said “We are not just here to manage the pension system, we are here to rebuild trust, enforce discipline and transform the pension landscape into one that genuinely protects Nigerian workers and empowers economic inclusion.”
He said the focus of the Commission and the industry going forward will be on four clear pillars.
On infrastructure financing, she said the retreat which involved operators and regulators agreed that long-term pension funds should drive real economic growth, noting that pension fund contributors and retirees deserve real returns. “This means investment only in risk-transparent and bankable projects. No shortcuts and no excuses.”
The nest pillar she said is legislative partnership, noting that the industry is establishing a pension legislature-working group that will partner with legislators to institutionalise reforms believed to be key and very important.
On diversification of pension assets, she said the Commission is revamping the investment regulation to expand into other alternative assets, and also increasing limits where the alternative pension assets funds can be invested, assuring that there will be transparency and strengthened risk oversight.
For micro-pensions revolution, the DG said this has now been renamed as the Personal Pension Plan. “It has been re-engineered for scale, technology enablement, and deep penetration into the informal sector.”
Speaking further on the Commission’s zero tolerance for non-compliance with the Pension Reform Act of 2014.
She said, “Effective immediately, PenCom has launched an uncompromising compliance drive to ensure the Pension Reform Act is complied with by every operator. Every organization, public, private, big or small must comply with pension remittance obligations. No exceptions, she said.
She stated that all Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) have been directed to ensure every vendor, service provider, and counterparties have a valid Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC) that evidences that they have been up to date and compliant with pension contribution.
“By 30th November this year, any entity without a PCC will be blacklisted and cut out from pension business with all PenCom regulated entities. This directive also extends to banks, investment counterparties, parent companies, and shareholders of licensed pension funds, administrators, and custodians.”
“All pension fund affiliated entities must enforce the pension clearance certificate requirement across their operators and across all ecosystems and submit annual compliance attestations.”
She said, we are drawing a red line in the sand. Pension compliance is no longer optional. It is existential.” Only those who value the future of their employees can participate in this ecosystem and the reward that it offers
