President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has disclosed that settling pension debts of the past is only the beginning noting that for more than a decade the Pension Reform Act 2014 has promised Nigerian retirees a minimum pension guarantee lamenting that since the enactment the promise has never been honoured.
President Tinubu who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF Sen. George Akume disclosed this at the 2026 Pension Week in Abuja he assured that there will be a commencement of the minimum pension guarantee and management care of national retiree well-being program that begins by giving low income retirees access to essential health care.
This he said marks a decisive shift from a system that merely holds servants to the one that guarantees a flow of dignity while explaining that a strong pension system does more than provide income in retirement It mobilizes long-term domestic service deepens financial markets supports productive investments and contributes to sustainable national development.
He said ‘This administration therefore recognises pension as both a social protection imperative and a strategic pillar of economic transformation under the renewed hope agenda. We do not pretend that the work is finished. Not by rising living costs gas income rates employer non-compliance and inadequate retirement incomes which are rare concerns to the government
‘I hear our pensioners and I share their concerns and rightly too which is why our response must be sustained practical and measurable. Government has done its part and will continue to do so. But government cannot deliver retirement security alone.
Having confronted inherited obligations and strengthened the framework I expect every institution in the pension industry to rise to the same standard of responsibility. Pension assets are not numbers on a balance sheet alone.
‘They are the deferred wages. Sacrifices are hopes some millions of Nigerians set aside so that old age would never mean dependence. Those funds must be guarded with the highest standards of governance transparency accountability and risk management and they must be invested with skill and discipline to aim the strongest sustainable risk-adjustment returns consistent with the safety of contributors’safety’.
The President lamented that Preservation without growth is a slow erosion. Retirement savings have failed to keep pace with inflation quietly betraying the very people who served them. Equally the pursuit of returns must never become an excuse for reckless risk-taking. They also must deliver for security of capital and disciplined growth in value. He challenged the pension fund administrators and custodians to deepen investment expertise diversify responsibly drive down costs and strengthen accountability.
The Director General National Pencom Commission Omolara Oloworaran explained that the progress in the Pencom industry means low-paid federal retirees who waited years for justice are seeing their pensions rise by between 67% to 120% and this is through the combined effects of Pension Boost and the consequential increase approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.