The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says it will introduce a Minimum Pension Guarantee and a health insurance scheme for retirees within the next three months to strengthen retirement security under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran announced the plans in Abuja while presenting the commission’s performance under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. She said the Minimum Pension Guarantee would establish a minimum income threshold to ensure pensioners do not fall below a prescribed retirement income.
She added that the proposed PenCare programme will provide free health insurance for low-income retirees aged 60 and above who receive monthly pensions of ₦150,000 or less. The pilot phase will initially cover about 30,000 retirees before expanding nationwide.
Oloworaran also disclosed that pension assets under management increased by 51 per cent over the past two years, rising from ₦20.79 trillion in July 2024 to ₦31.48 trillion as of July 10, 2026. During the same period, the Contributory Pension Scheme added 938,229 contributors, bringing total membership to more than 11.3 million.
She said reforms in benefit administration now require Pension Fund Administrators to approve retirement benefits within 48 hours, while the number of retirees receiving pensions has grown to 819,411. She attributed part of the progress to the Federal Government’s ₦758 billion pension bond, which cleared long-standing pension liabilities dating back to 2007.
The PenCom chief said the commission is also expanding pension coverage in the informal sector through the Personal Pension Plan, developing an Accredited Pension Agents framework to improve participation, and creating investment structures that will channel pension funds into infrastructure, healthcare, education and agriculture without compromising contributors’ returns.
