21yrs after, PenCom raises NSITF retirees’ pensions by 1,173%

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved pensions increase for 2,116 retirees under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), raising their total monthly pension payments from N12.56 million to N159.95 million, translating to 1,173% enhancement in the total monthly payment. The Commission also announced the payment of N8.70 billion arrears to the 2,116 NSITF […]

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved pensions increase for 2,116 retirees under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), raising their total monthly pension payments from N12.56 million to N159.95 million, translating to 1,173% enhancement in the total monthly payment.

The Commission also announced the payment of N8.70 billion arrears to the 2,116 NSITF retirees, with an average arrears’ payment amounted to about N3 million per retiree.

PenCom, in a statement on Wednesday disclosed that the payments were recently approved by the Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, who continues to champion landmark reforms that have transformed the landscape of the Contributory Pension Scheme.

This marks the first pension increase for NSITF retirees in 21 years, addressing long-standing disparities and restoring the value of benefits in line with statutory provisions and prevailing economic conditions.

The regulator said in a particular instance, an NSITF retiree’s monthly pension was enhanced from about N18,000 to a whopping N206,000. In addition, the retiree was paid over N8 million as pension arrears.

The enhancement, according to PenCom, “was supported by the significant growth of the NSITF Fund, which grew from N54 billion at the point of transfer in 2005 to N195 billion as of December 2025. This growth reflects prudent fund management under the strict supervision of PenCom and provided the financial headroom necessary to implement the long-overdue review while safeguarding the Scheme’s sustainability.”

The NSITF was established in 1993 as the successor to the National Provident Fund (NPF), managing pension benefits for private sector employees prior to the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) under the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

Following the reform, pension assets under the defunct NSITF Scheme were transferred to TrustfundPensions Limited, which was mandated to manage the Scheme’s assets and administer benefits to existing and deferred pensioners.

“In response to this prolonged non-compliance, PenCom invoked Section 53 of the PRA 2014, which requires that benefits under the NSITF Scheme be administered in accordance with the Scheme’s governing terms. 

“PenCom consequently directed Trustfund Pensions Limited to submit a comprehensive proposal for pension enhancement.

“So far, payments have been made to verified NSITF retirees. To ease the burden associated with pension verification exercises, PenCom approved the deployment of the “VerifyMe” digital solution for automated revalidation of NSITF pensioners. This initiative eliminated the rigours of physical verification requirements and thereby improving service efficiency for the senior citizens,” the statement added.