President Bola Tinubu has formally activated a N52,500 minimum monthly pension guarantee for retirees and introduced PenCare, a healthcare initiative targeting low-income pensioners. The measures form part of the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives launched on Tuesday at the State House Banquet Hall.
Tinubu, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, said the minimum pension guarantee was one of the promises in the pension framework that had remained unfulfilled. He cited Section 71 of the Pension Reform Act, which promises every contributor a guaranteed minimum pension, as well as Sections 82 and 84, which reinforce that pledge and establish a fund to finance it. He noted that the provisions had not been implemented for 22 years, adding that a law that is never implemented is not a law but a lie with a stamp on it. The President declared that the minimum pension guarantee scheme takes effect immediately and will be administered by the National Pension Commission under the Pension Reform Act.
PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran said the minimum pension would be set at N52,500 monthly, subject to upward reviews, and that the scheme is already funded. More than N400 billion sits in the Pension Protection Fund, and 173,209 Nigerians will be eligible. Beneficiaries are expected to begin receiving credit alerts after the launch.
Oloworaran said 34% of eligible retirees are from the federal service, 12% from state services and 54% from the private sector. The Federal Government and the pension industry have contributed to the fund, and the private sector has been urged to also contribute. On legacy liabilities, she said states inherited more than N2 trillion in pension obligations when the current administration began its reforms, but N1.07 trillion had been paid off as of the announcement.
PenCare will be funded by the pension industry and will give low-income retirees access to essential healthcare without charge. The first PenCare health access cards will be distributed to pensioners and beneficiaries immediately. Oloworaran said the pension industry has set aside more than N7 billion for the healthcare of low-income retirees, describing the initiative as funded and sustainable. The President also requested that pension industry stakeholders design sustainable incentives to bring the informal sector into the scheme in tens of millions.
Speaking for pension industry stakeholders, Heirs Holdings Chairman Tony Elumelu said the government was making an important statement, and that Nigeria should be a country where those who worked hard and served diligently could retire with dignity, security and peace of mind. He said the two initiatives address two fundamental concerns of every retiree: access to healthcare and security of income.
