The Federal Government has cleared N758 billion in outstanding pension liabilities, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) said on Tuesday.
PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this at the commission’s 2026 Media Conference in Lagos, saying the intervention covered pension obligations dating back to 2007 and affected 957,045 beneficiaries.
Oloworaran said the liabilities were cleared through a Federal Government intervention bond.
She said the move was part of efforts to address outstanding pension obligations and improve the payment of retirement benefits to Nigerians.
PenCom also disclosed that accrued pension rights for federal workers due to retire up to December 2029 had been credited to their Retirement Savings Accounts.
The commission said the crediting followed a verification and enrolment exercise carried out to establish the retirement obligations of affected workers.
It also announced a Zero Waiting Time Policy aimed at reducing delays between retirement and the payment of pension benefits.
According to PenCom, the time required to process retirement benefits has dropped from as much as 21 months to about 48 hours for retirees who meet the necessary requirements.
The commission further said a 21-year review of payments to retirees of the defunct Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund had resulted in an average 1,173 per cent increase for 2,116 retirees.
It said N8.7 billion in arrears had also been paid to the affected retirees.
PenCom said monthly pension payments under the Contributory Pension Scheme had risen from N12.15 billion to N14.83 billion, benefiting more than 241,000 retirees.
The commission also announced plans to extend pension coverage to more workers in the informal sector through the expansion of the Micro Pension Plan.
It said other measures were being considered to provide additional support for low-income retirees.
The N758 billion intervention addresses pension obligations that had remained outstanding for years. PenCom’s announcement on Tuesday provides the latest update on the government’s effort to settle those liabilities.
The commission did not, however, say that every beneficiary affected by the historical liabilities had received cash immediately following Tuesday’s announcement.
