The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has approved a significant upward review of pensions for 2,116 retirees under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), increasing their combined monthly pension payments from ₦12.56 million to ₦159.95 million – a 1,173 per cent increase.
In addition to the enhanced monthly payouts, the affected retirees have also received ₦8.70 billion in pension arrears, translating to an average of about ₦3 million per beneficiary.
The approval, granted by the Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, marks the first pension increase for NSITF retirees in 21 years, correcting long-standing disparities and restoring the real value of benefits in line with statutory provisions.
PenCom said the pension enhancement aligns with the Federal Government’s broader policy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to improve the welfare of retirees and strengthen confidence in the pension system.
In one notable case, a retiree’s monthly pension was reviewed upward from about ₦18,000 to ₦206,000, while the individual also received more than ₦8 million in accumulated arrears.
The Commission explained that the pension review was made possible by the substantial growth of the NSITF Fund, which increased from ₦54 billion in 2005 to ₦195 billion as of December 2025, under PenCom’s regulatory oversight.
According to PenCom, the growth reflects prudent fund management and provides the financial capacity to implement the long-overdue review while ensuring the sustainability of the scheme.
The NSITF, established in 1993 as the successor to the National Provident Fund (NPF), managed pension benefits for private sector employees before the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) under the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.
Following the pension reforms, NSITF assets were transferred to Trustfund Pensions Limited, which was mandated to manage the assets and administer benefits to existing and deferred pensioners.
PenCom noted that Section 39(3) of the PRA 2014, alongside Section 173(3) of the 1999 Constitution, mandates periodic pension reviews at least every five years or in line with salary reviews in the Federal Civil Service. In addition, the NSITF Benefits Payment Policy stipulates that minimum pensions should not fall below 80 per cent of the national minimum wage.
Despite these provisions, NSITF pensions had not been reviewed since 2005.
In response, PenCom invoked Section 53 of the PRA 2014, directing Trustfund Pensions Limited to submit a comprehensive proposal for pension enhancement, which culminated in the current review.
The Commission disclosed that payments have been made to verified NSITF retirees and that, to ease the verification process, it approved the deployment of the “VerifyMe” digital solution. The platform enables automated revalidation of pensioners, eliminating the need for physical verification and improving service delivery for senior citizens.
