Nigeria clears ₦758 billion in inherited pension liabilities

The Nigerian Federal Government has cleared inherited pension liabilities dating back to 2007 using a ₦758 billion intervention bond. This settlement provides financial relief to 957,045 beneficiaries across the country.

Omolola Oloworaran, Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), announced the clearance during the 2026 PenCom Media Conference in Lagos. She noted that these obligations had persisted through multiple successive administrations. The settlement is part of broader pension reforms implemented under President Bola Tinubu.

To prevent future backlogs, PenCom has introduced a ‘Zero Waiting Time Policy’ designed to align retirement benefit payments with monthly public service salary cycles. This initiative aims to reduce benefit processing times from as much as 21 months to 48 hours. Additionally, accrued pension rights for federal workers scheduled to retire by December 2029 have already been credited to their Retirement Savings Accounts following a verification and enrolment exercise.