In a Milestone, PenCom Approves Increase in NSITF Pensions, Disburses N8.70bn Arrears to 2,116 Retirees

• Retiree’s monthly pension enhanced to N206,000 from about N18,000

•Oloworaran: increment a testament to Tinubu’s disposition to boost welfare of all retirees

James Emejo in Abuja

Director General/Chief Executive, National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, yesterday, said the commission had approved an upward review of pensions for 2,116 retirees under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

The increment, which translated to an unprecedented 1,173 per cent enhancement, took the fund’s total monthly pension payments from N12.56 million to N159.95 million.

With the development, the affected NSITF retirees had received N8.70 billion in pension arrears, translating to an average of about N3 million arrears payment per retiree. This also marked the first pension increase for NSITF retirees in 21 years, addressing long-standing disparities and restoring the value of benefits in line with statutory provisions, and prevailing economic conditions.

In a statement, Oloworaran pointed out that the NSITF pension increment was yet another milestone in President Bola Tinubu’s policy drive to enhance the welfare of retirees in the country.

The PenCom director-general has continued to champion landmark reforms that have transformed the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

Essentially, an NSITF retiree’s monthly pension was enhanced from about N18,000 to a whopping N206,000. In addition, the retiree was paid over N8 million as pension arrears, the statement added.

PenCom said the enhancement was supported by the significant growth of the NSITF Fund, which grew from N54 billion at the point of transfer in 2005 to N195 billion as of December 2025.

The growth reflected prudent fund management under the strict supervision of PenCom, providing the financial headroom necessary to implement the long-overdue review while safeguarding the scheme’s sustainability.

NSITF was established in 1993 as the successor to the National Provident Fund (NPF), managing pension benefits for private sector employees prior to the introduction of the CPS under the Pension Reform Act (P RA) 2004.

Following the reform, pension assets under the defunct NSITF Scheme were transferred to Trustfund Pensions Limited, which was mandated to manage the scheme’s assets and administer benefits to existing and deferred pensioners.

Section 39(3) of the PRA 2014, together with Section 173(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, mandates periodic pension reviews at least every five years or in line with Federal Civil Service salary reviews.

Furthermore, NSITF Benefits Payment Policy provides that the minimum retirement pension should not be less than 80 per cent of the prevailing National Minimum Wage.

Despite these provisions, the last review of NSITF pensions occurred in 2005, the statement added.

In response to the prolonged non-compliance, PenCom invoked Section 53 of the PRA 2014, which requires that benefits under the NSITF scheme be administered in accordance with the scheme’s governing terms.

PenCom consequently directed Trustfund Pensions Limited to submit a comprehensive proposal for pension enhancement.

According to the commission, “So far, payments have been made to verified NSITF retirees. To ease the burden associated with pension verification exercises, PenCom approved the deployment of the ‘VerifyMe’ digital solution for automated revalidation of NSITF pensioners.

“This initiative eliminated the rigours of physical verification requirements and thereby improving service efficiency for the senior citizens.”