FG settles N958bn pension arrears
Lagos, Oct. 2026 – The federal government has settled all N958 billion outstanding pension arrears since 2007.
Omolola Oloworaran, the Director General of National Pension Commission (Pencom), said this on Tuesday while addressing stakeholders at the 2026 PenCom Media Conference in Lagos.
She said the settlement had put an end to incidence of unpaid pension benefits which has accrued since the inception of the programme.
“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.
“Every nation makes a promise to the people who build it—those who serve faithfully and diligently. When your working years are done, your country should not forget you. For too long, that promise was kept slowly, partially, or not at all. “Today, I can report that this has changed—not in aspiration, but in fact.”
Oloworaran also said Pencom had paid Accrued Pension Rights of prospective retirees up to December 2029 which had already been credited to Retirement Savings Accounts of beneficiaries ahead of time after a comprehensive verification.
She said the commission had introduced zero waiting time policy to align retirement payouts with monthly public service salary cycles to prevent future backlogs and ensuring workers transit seamlessly into retirement without financial gaps.
The Pencom boss said the commission had also introduced faster pension benefit processing time for new retirees which had now reduced the waiting period from 21 months to 48 hours.
She said the pension industry was making more efforts to expand pension awareness and outreach.
“PFAs, I believe, understand the need for awareness. And there’s a plan; as part of the initiatives being worked on by the Pension Industry Council, we do have a stakeholder management and advocacy committee. And they’ve come up with a calendar of activities in terms of how to engage Nigerians and ensure pension literacy as well as pension awareness.
“If you listened earlier on, part of what will also be happening during the Pension Week is also awareness, adequacy, state visits, and engagement. I know that we need to do a whole lot around that, and the pension industry is working to ensure that they can reach, if not every Nigerian, at least most Nigerians.
“So, work is ongoing in that regard. We do have a lot to do, and we recognise that, both at the industry level and also in PenCom as well,” she said.
