PenCom Targets Three Million Funded Pension Accounts
By Patience Ikpeme
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has set a target for Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to open three million new retirement savings accounts with actual contributions within the next year as part of efforts to extend pension coverage to more Nigerian workers.
PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran announced the target on Thursday at the National Pension Conference and Awards in Abuja, organised as part of the ongoing National Pension Week 2026.
She said the initiative would extend pension coverage beyond workers in formal employment to traders, artisans, farmers, commercial transport operators, entrepreneurs and others working in the informal sector.
According to her, the commission plans to achieve this through the Personal Pension Plan, accredited pension agents and digital registration services that make it easier for workers outside the traditional employment system to save for retirement.
Oloworaran said the target was not merely to increase the number of people registered under the pension scheme but to ensure that their accounts receive regular contributions.
“Not registrations, three million funded active accounts, new accounts,” she said. “Because an empty account is a statistic, but a funded account is a future.”
She said Nigeria needed a pension system that served the wider workforce rather than one limited largely to people in formal employment.
“A pension system that covers only the payroll is not a national pension system. It is a privileged pension system,” she said.
The PenCom chief also disclosed that pension assets had increased from ₦20.79 trillion in July 2024 to ₦31.8 trillion in August 2026, representing a rise of about ₦11 trillion.
However, she said the growth in pension assets must translate into wider coverage, better retirement benefits and stronger protection for pensioners.
Oloworaran identified rising prices, inadequate contributions and delays in remitting pension payments as major challenges that could weaken workers’ financial security after retirement.
She urged PFAs to ensure that investment returns protect the value of pension savings against inflation, which reduces the purchasing power of money over time.
“Beating inflation is not an aspiration. It is your job,” she said.
The director-general also maintained that PFAs and pension fund custodians must complete their recapitalisation by June 30, 2027.
She said PenCom would demand higher standards from pension operators in investment management and service delivery to ensure that workers’ retirement savings were properly managed. “Size is what we have achieved. Strength is what we now demand,” Oloworaran said.
