PenCom targets three million additional funded active accounts by 2027

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has tasked Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and other industry stakeholders with opening three million additional funded Retirement Savings Accounts by the end of 2027.

Speaking on Thursday at the National Pension Conference and Awards in Abuja, PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran called on the private sector to join the Federal Government and the pension industry in funding the Pension Protection Fund.

She emphasised the need for the industry to deliver competitive real returns above inflation, stating, “A pension is not a privilege for the few. It is a right within reach of all.”

“I believe the next decade of Nigerian pensions rests on five shifts,” she said, identifying the first as a transition from payroll to population.

“Now it must follow the worker, to the market, to the motor park, the farm cluster, and the phone in every pocket.”

Oloworaran explained that through the Personal Pension Plan (PPP), accredited pension agents and other initiatives, PenCom would reach more Nigerians.

“The good news is that the owners of all our pension fund administrators have committed to that. Not registrations, but three million funded active accounts—new accounts. Because an empty account is a statistic, but a funded account is a future and might just be the beginning of planning the security of that future,” she said.

She further explained that the second reform was a shift from savings to security, ensuring that no Nigerian who had served and worked for the nation and saved for retirement would grow old in want.

The director-general also disclosed that pension assets had risen from ₦20.79 trillion in July 2024 to ₦31.8 trillion by August 2026.

Oloworaran further stated that the President had approved the first-ever exit benefit for retirees of Federal Government treasury-funded ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), with a symbolic cheque presented at the event.

Overall, the summit highlighted pension reforms and the collective efforts needed to strengthen Nigeria’s pension industry and secure a better future for all.