PenCom Recovers N36.6bn Unremitted Contributions As Compliance Rises By 28%

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said it recovered N36.6 billion in unremitted pension contributions, with compliance rising by 28 per cent as part of efforts to strengthen compliance and protect workers’ retirement savings.

Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, the PenCom director-general, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, said the commission had intensified enforcement across the pension ecosystem and was pushing employers to remit workers’ contributions as required by law.

Giving her two-year scorecard, from July 2024 to July 2026, Oloworaran said the rise in recoveries showed that the system was becoming stronger and more accountable.

According to her, the commission recovered N36.6 billion in unremitted pension contributions, up from N28.6 billion.

The last two years also saw major progress in service delivery and retirement protection. PenCom said pension benefit approvals, which previously could take as long as 21 months, are now processed within 48 hours, while a new minimum pension guarantee and the PenCare health initiative are being prepared to support retirees. The commission also said it expanded access to pension coverage, with 938,229 new contributors joining the scheme and total membership rising to 11.32 million.

PenCom further said it cleared long-standing pension liabilities through the N758 billion federal government Pension Bond, which it said benefited 957,045 Nigerians and helped settle obligations dating back to 2007. The commission said the bond covered pension increases, accrued rights, the pension protection fund and professors’ benefits, while accrued pension rights moved from 21 months in arrears to a 41-month surplus.

The DG also said the commission deepened digitalisation across the pension system, with fully online clearance certificates, simplified digital onboarding, biometric validation and one-time enrolment for accrued rights payments. PenCom said these reforms were meant to make pension administration faster, more transparent and easier for workers and retirees to use.

She said PenCom’s approach was built on confidence and trust. “Confidence is back,” she told the briefing, adding that stronger enforcement was helping to rebuild public trust in the pension system.

She also said the commission was determined to protect workers’ savings and close the gaps that allowed employers to delay remittances.

The PenCom boss said the enforcement campaign was not just about recovering money, but about protecting retirement security. “Enforcement is protection,” she said, stressing that pension contributions deducted from workers’ salaries must reach their pension accounts on time.

Oloworaran said the reforms were already producing wider results across the sector. According to her, the commission was also improving service delivery, speeding up benefit approvals and strengthening digital processes to make pension administration easier and more transparent.

She linked the compliance gains to the broader reform agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the pension industry had moved from uncertainty to progress.

The DG said PenCom was working with anti-corruption agencies and using mandatory pension clearance to tighten oversight across the system.

In another part of the briefing, she said the reforms were helping to improve retirement security beyond pension payments alone. “No Nigerian should retire into poverty and ill health,” she said, while explaining the planned PenCare Health Initiative and the Minimum Pension Guarantee.

According to her, those measures were part of a wider push to make retirement more dignified and secure.

Oloworaran said the commission would continue to monitor employers and recover more unremitted contributions until full compliance became the norm. She said every naira recovered from defaulters was money returned to workers’ future savings.

She added that the latest figures were a signal that the pension system was on a better path. “The verdict is in,” she said, describing the current phase of reform as one that was restoring confidence and strengthening the pension industry.