The Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms Omolola Oloworaran, has disclosed that the recently approved N758 billion bond by the Federal Government would end the delays in pension payments to retirees.
Ms Oloworaran, spoke on Nigerian Television Authority’s (NTA) Network News on Thursday while giving updates on the bond and other ongoing initiatives in the industry.
TheFact Daily reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 approved N758 billion bond to clear 16 years pension arrears in the country.
Speaking, Ms Oloworaran, said: “You have been hearing a lot about the delays in pension payments, in the last few months since I took over the role as director general, with this Intervention, those delays will no longer happen, it will be a thing of the past once the bond is issued.”
She said the sum of N253 billion has been dedicated to settle outstanding entitlements, while about N387 billion was committed to payment of pension increases since 2007.
“It is almost two decades ago where some pension increases have been pending without government paying for it. But this government under President Bola Tinubu has taken this issue seriously, and would be paying all outstanding pension increases from 2007 till date. Again, N387.5 billion is being dedicated to that from the bond of N758 billion,” she disclosed.
On Pension Protection Fund, she said the sum of N107 billion has been committed to the Fund, adding that the Fund was expected to argument pensions for low income earners, to enable them earn a living wage.
The DG revealed that “since the enactment of the law in 2014, this is the first time that the government is contributing to this Fund. So, once the bond has been issued and disbursed, retirees who are currently earning low pensions will have the joy of the pensions being augmented through this Funds that have been approved.”
Speaking on the specific steps PenCom is taking to ensure that the Funds get to the intended beneficiaries, and measures being taken to monitor the impact of the Funds on pensioners’ lives, Ms Oloworaran said, the Commission is working with the relevant agencies to ensure that the bond and the processes that would lead to the issuance of the bond is concluded in record time.
She said “once that is done, the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) will be credited and the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) of the retirees will be credited, and retirees will be able to go to the PFAs to claim their entitlements.
“Incidentally, we had a consultative forum with the PFAs today, where PFAs are committed to ensuring that payments are made to the retirees immediately, and the bond issuance is concluded and Funds are disbursed to the retirement savings accounts. So the PFAs will monitor this, and PenCom will work hard to ensure that the funds are disbursed to the retirees,” she assured.
