President Bola Tinubu On Tuesday, kicked off a monthly minimum pension guarantee of N52,500 for 173,209 qualified retirees covered by the Contributory Pension Scheme, bringing to an end a 22-year wait to enforce this provision of the Pension Reform Act.
The President also unveiled the Pension Industry Healthcare Plan for Retirees, referred to as PenCare, which is designed to offer free essential healthcare services to pensioners with low incomes.
Tinubu, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, made the announcements at the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives ceremony held at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja.
While declaring the minimum pension guarantee operational, he stated, “By the authority vested in me as President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I hereby declare the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme commenced.”
The president clarified that the guarantee, which was first introduced under the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and carried over into the 2014 legislation, had never been implemented, even though several administrations came and went.
“From this day, there is a floor beneath the Nigerian retiree. No one who contributed under the Contributory Pension Scheme will ever be allowed to fall below,” he said.
Tinubu called on future administrations to uphold the guarantee, stating, “Raise it. But never take away the floor.”
Regarding healthcare, he stated that the PenCare initiative would shield vulnerable retirees from medical costs that could drain their pension savings.
“PenCare provides our low-income retirees with free access to essential health care,” he said, noting that beneficiaries would start receiving healthcare access cards in the months ahead.
The president also revealed that his administration had issued an N758bn bond to clear long-standing pension arrears and approved an N32,000 monthly consequential adjustment for affected federal pensioners.
He noted that states had spent more than N1tn settling pension obligations, partly attributing their stronger financial position to the removal of subsidies.
Citing a World Bank report, Tinubu said states’ revenues had risen by roughly 93 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, while the portion of their budgets allocated to capital projects grew from 46 to 61 per cent.
He further disclosed that government-backed credit programs had unlocked over N64bn for 174,000 borrowers, while more than 350,000 Nigerians had obtained about N53bn in consumer credit.
In her opening remarks, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, announced that the guaranteed minimum pension had been set at N52,500 monthly.
“The minimum pension in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is 52,500 naira every month,” she said.
She stated that 173,209 retirees are eligible for the guarantee, with 34 per cent coming from federal service, 12 per cent from state employment and 54 per cent from the private sector.
She clarified that the amount had been actuarially validated and would undergo periodic review.
“The figure was not plucked from the air. Oloworaran noted that it has been validated by an actuary and is subject to review.”
She revealed that over N400bn was available in the Pension Protection Fund to finance the guarantee, while more than 65 percent of private-sector retirees currently earned below the new threshold.
The PenCom boss also disclosed that states had inherited over N2tn in pension liabilities, of which N1.07tn had been settled.
