BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR-The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved a landmark upward review of pensions for 2,116 retirees under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), raising their total monthly pension payments from ₦12.56 million to ₦159.95 million.
The adjustment, which represents an unprecedented 1,173 per cent increase, marks the first pension review for NSITF retirees in 21 years and underscores the Commission’s renewed commitment to improving retirees’ welfare in line with statutory provisions.
The NSITF pension increase is yet another milestone in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policy of enhancing the welfare of retirees in Nigeria.
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.
Additionally, as part of the enhancement, the 2,116 NSITF retirees have received ₦8.70 billion in pension arrears. The average arrears payment amounted to about ₦3 million per retiree.
In a particular instance, an NSITF retiree’s monthly pension was enhanced from about ₦18,000 to a whopping ₦206,000. In addition, the retiree was paid over ₦8 million as pension arrears.
The enhancement was supported by the significant growth of the NSITF Fund, which grew from ₦54 billion at the point of transfer in 2005 to ₦195 billion as of December 2025. This growth reflects prudent fund management under the strict supervision of PenComand 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.
Section 39(3) of the PRA 2014, together with Section 173(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, mandates periodic pension reviews at least every five years or in line with Federal Civil Service salary reviews. Furthermore, the NSITF Benefits Payment Policy provides that the minimum retirement pension should not be less than 80% of the prevailing National Minimum Wage.
Despite these provisions, the last review of NSITF pensions occurred in 2005.
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.
