The National Pension Commission has announced plans to pilot health insurance coverage for retirees within the next three months and activate the Minimum Pension Guarantee to safeguard retirees’ dignity and support a decent standard of living.
According to the Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, the regulator will also unveil a series of guidelines to revolutionize the pension sector as part of its ‘Pension Revolution 2.0—Stronger Pensions, Stronger Nigeria’ project.
The guidelines expected to be unveiled will focus on investment and risk management, governance and compliance, service delivery, and financial inclusion. The project is a transformative programme of reforms that builds on two decades of progress to guide Nigeria’s pension industry into its next phase of growth and resilience.
Oloworaran stated that the programme is guided by the vision of President Bola Tinubu, who has directed that the pension system must enable dignity in retirement, broaden access for all Nigerians, and mobilize long-term savings as reliable capital for national development.
The PenCom DG noted that the first great turning point came in 2004 with the enactment of the Pension Reform Act, which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme and revolutionized retirement savings in Nigeria.
“Two decades later, we stand at another defining moment. Pension Revolution 2.0 is the most significant advancement since 2004, bold in ambition, yet evolutionary in practice,” she said.
Beginning this week, PenCom will release the new regulations daily, with each guideline setting higher standards across critical pillars.
The regulations will enable dignity for retirees through health insurance and a minimum pension floor, optimize investment performance while safeguarding contributors’ funds, expand pensions to reach every Nigerian, especially those in the informal economy, and harness technology and innovation to democratize access and improve service delivery.
PenCom has already issued the Revised Guidelines on Appointment to Board and Senior Management as well as the Revised Guideline on Corporate Governance.
