President Bola Tinubu has announced a new ₦52,500 monthly minimum pension guarantee for 173,209 eligible retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), ending a 22-year delay in implementing the provision of the Pension Reform Act.
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The President also launched the Pension Industry Healthcare Plan for Retirees (PenCare), which will provide free essential healthcare services to low-income pensioners.
Tinubu, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, announced the initiatives during the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives ceremony at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja on Tuesday.
The minimum pension guarantee was first provided for under the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and retained in the 2014 legislation, but successive administrations failed to implement it.
Tinubu declared the scheme operational, saying no retiree who contributed under the CPS should fall below the guaranteed minimum.
Who will benefit from the ₦52,500 pension?
The Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, said 173,209 retirees qualify for the guarantee.
According to her, 34 per cent of beneficiaries retired from federal service, 12 per cent from state employment, while 54 per cent worked in the private sector.
She explained that the ₦52,500 threshold had been validated by an actuary and would be reviewed periodically. More than 65 per cent of private-sector retirees currently earn below the new minimum.
PenCom also disclosed that over ₦400 billion is available in the Pension Protection Fund to finance the guarantee.
What is PenCare?
The new healthcare initiative will provide free essential medical services to vulnerable retirees who struggle with healthcare expenses.
Tinubu said beneficiaries would begin receiving healthcare access cards in the coming months. PenCom disclosed that the pension industry had provided more than ₦7 billion for the initiative, with insurance premiums already paid to cover nearly 30,000 retirees.
Other pension measures
The President also disclosed that his administration had issued a ₦758 billion bond to address outstanding pension arrears and approved a ₦32,000 monthly consequential adjustment for affected federal pensioners.
Meanwhile, PenCom revealed that states inherited more than ₦2 trillion in pension liabilities, of which ₦1.07 trillion had been settled.
How to benefit
The ₦52,500 guarantee targets eligible retirees under the CPS, not every Nigerian or all pensioners automatically. Eligible retirees should monitor announcements from PenCom and their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) for implementation details. Low-income retirees should also watch for PenCare healthcare card distribution, expected to begin in the coming months.
