Tinubu Launches N52,500 Minimum Monthly Pension for 173,209 Retirees

President Bola Tinubu has launched a N52,500 monthly minimum pension guarantee for 173,209 eligible retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme, ending a 22-year delay in implementing the provision of the Pension Reform Act.

The President also inaugurated the Pension Industry Healthcare Plan for Retirees, known as PenCare, to provide free essential healthcare services to low-income pensioners.

Tinubu, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, announced the initiatives on Tuesday during the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives ceremony at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

Declaring the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme operational, the President said the initiative would ensure that eligible retirees received at least N52,500 monthly.

“By the authority vested in me as President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I hereby declare the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme commenced,” he said.

Tinubu explained that the minimum pension guarantee was first introduced in the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and retained in the 2014 legislation but had remained unimplemented under successive administrations.

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“From this day, there is a floor beneath the Nigerian retiree. No one who contributed under the Contributory Pension Scheme will ever be allowed to fall below,” he said.

He urged future administrations to sustain the initiative, adding, “Raise it. But never remove the floor.”

On healthcare, Tinubu said the PenCare initiative was designed to shield vulnerable retirees from medical expenses that could deplete their pension savings.

“PenCare gives our low-income retirees access to essential health care without charge,” he said, adding that beneficiaries would begin receiving healthcare access cards in the coming months.

The President also disclosed that his administration had issued a N758bn bond to address longstanding pension arrears and approved a N32,000 monthly consequential adjustment for affected federal pensioners.

He said state governments had spent more than N1tn settling pension obligations, attributing their improved financial capacity partly to the removal of the petrol subsidy.

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Citing a World Bank report, Tinubu said states’ revenues increased by approximately 93 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, while the proportion of their budgets allocated to capital projects rose from 46 to 61 per cent.

He further disclosed that government-backed credit initiatives had unlocked more than N64bn for 174,000 borrowers, while over 350,000 Nigerians had accessed approximately N53bn in consumer credit.

Earlier, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, announced that the guaranteed minimum pension had been fixed at N52,500 monthly.

“The minimum pensions in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is 52,500 naira every month,” she said.

Oloworaran disclosed that 173,209 retirees qualified for the scheme, comprising 34 per cent from federal service, 12 per cent from state employment and 54 per cent from the private sector.

She explained that the amount had undergone actuarial validation and would be reviewed periodically.

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“The figure was not plucked from the air. It has been validated by an actuary, and it is subject to review,” she said.

The PenCom chief further revealed that more than N400bn was available in the Pension Protection Fund to finance the guarantee, while over 65 per cent of private-sector retirees currently received pensions below the new threshold.

She also disclosed that state governments inherited more than N2tn in pension liabilities, out of which N1.07tn had been settled.

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