FG Clears Pension Backlog, Funds Benefits Till 2029

The Federal Government has cleared its outstanding pension obligations for enrolled federal workers and funded their accrued retirement benefits up to December 2029, ending a backlog that previously lasted for 21 months.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) disclosed this development on Wednesday during the 2026 Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria Conference held in Abuja.

PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, announced the development in her keynote address, which was delivered on her behalf by the commission’s Head of Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Buwai.

She explained that the government had moved from owing 21 months of accrued pension contributions to having a 41-month funding surplus.

According to her, the development means that federal workers who have enrolled in the pension scheme but are yet to retire now have their accrued pension rights funded up to December 2029.

Oloworaran also disclosed that the commission had addressed delays associated with the payment of retirement benefits, adding that pension payments were now processed within a maximum of 48 hours after retirement.

She attributed the improvements to ongoing efforts to make pension administration more efficient and ensure that workers receive their entitlements without unnecessary delays.

The PenCom director-general also spoke about two new initiatives recently introduced by President Bola Tinubu: the PenCare health insurance programme and the N52,500 minimum pension guarantee.

She explained that the PenCare initiative was designed to reduce the medical expenses of retirees, allowing them to spend more of their monthly pension payments on other essential needs.

The programme is being financed by pension fund operators and PenCom. It will also operate under an independent board of trustees chaired by the commission’s former Director-General, Muhammad Ahmad.

On the minimum pension guarantee, Oloworaran said retirees whose monthly pensions fall below N52,500 would receive an increase to meet the new minimum payment.

She disclosed that some beneficiaries had already received payment notifications during the official launch of the programme on Tuesday.

The commission’s director-general further revealed that the Federal Government had approved additional retirement benefits for eligible workers leaving service from January 1, 2026.

Under the arrangement, qualified retirees would receive an additional payment equivalent to 100 per cent of their terminal emoluments.

She added that some workers who retired in 2026 and had submitted the required documents had already received their payments.