In a major move aimed at improving the welfare of retired workers, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has introduced a N52,500 minimum monthly pension for eligible retirees, alongside a new healthcare programme offering free essential medical services to low-income pensioners.
The initiatives, unveiled on Tuesday in Abuja under the Presidential Pension Security Initiative, are designed to strengthen retirement protection and address longstanding concerns over inadequate pension payments.
Represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio at the launch, Tinubu described the Minimum Pension Guarantee (MPG) as a long-overdue entitlement that should no longer remain a provision on paper.
He said the guarantee had remained unimplemented for 22 years despite being provided for in successive pension reform laws.
The President insisted that the minimum pension threshold must be protected by future administrations, adding that subsequent governments could increase the amount but should not abolish it.
“To every administration that comes after me, hear me clearly. This floor is now part of a compact between the Nigerian state and the Nigerian worker. Raise it, but never remove the floor,” he declared.
Under the new arrangement, eligible retirees enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme will receive no less than N52,500 monthly.
Tinubu explained that the policy was backed by existing legal provisions, including Section 71 of the Pension Reform Act 2004 and Sections 82 and 84 of the 2014 Act, which provide for the minimum pension guarantee and the establishment of a fund to support it.
Beyond increasing pension payments, the Federal Government also introduced PenCare, a healthcare initiative designed to ease the medical expenses of low-income retirees by providing free access to essential health services.
Providing further details, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, said the intervention would bring relief to retirees who have struggled to survive on extremely low monthly pensions.
She revealed that some pensioners had been receiving just above N20,000 monthly before the introduction of the new guarantee.
According to her, the Federal Government has established a N400 billion Pension Protection Fund to finance the programme and safeguard retirees whose pension payments fall below the approved minimum.
Oloworaran explained that the N52,500 threshold was arrived at through an actuarial assessment rather than an arbitrary decision and would be reviewed periodically.
“The figure was not plucked from the air; it has been validated by an actuary, and it is subject to review. And it is funded,” she said.
She blamed the 22-year delay in implementing the minimum pension guarantee on the failure of successive administrations to provide dedicated funding for the scheme.
The PenCom chief further disclosed that 173,209 retirees are expected to benefit from the initiative.
Breaking down the projected beneficiaries, she said 34 per cent are retirees from the Federal Government, 12 per cent from state governments, while private-sector retirees account for the remaining 54 per cent.
With the introduction of the N52,500 minimum pension and PenCare, the Federal Government is seeking to address two major challenges facing retirees: inadequate retirement income and the rising burden of healthcare costs.
The actual impact of the initiatives will, however, depend on effective implementation, sustained funding and regular reviews to ensure that eligible pensioners receive the promised benefits.