The total pension fund assets under Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) have increased by 2.2% month-on-month (MoM), rising to ₦26.66 trillion in October 2025, up from ₦26.09 trillion in September 2025. This growth is reported in the unaudited pension fund industry portfolio by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), marking a positive trend in the country’s pension assets.

Key Details of the Pension Fund Growth

• FGN Securities: A significant portion of the pension funds is invested in Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) securities, which saw a 1.3% increase, rising to ₦15.9 trillion from ₦15.7 trillion.
  • FGN Bonds: ₦15.1 trillion, up from ₦14.9 trillion.
  • Treasury Bills: ₦686.2 billion, up from ₦616.3 billion.
  • Corporate Debt Securities: ₦2.16 trillion, down from ₦2.24 trillion.
• Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Membership: The number of active RSAs rose to 10,970,979 as of October 31, 2025, compared to 10,928,039 in the previous month, indicating continued participation in the pension scheme.

PenCom’s Renewed Efforts to Tackle Pension Defaults

The Director-General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, emphasized the Commission’s zero-tolerance stance towards pension defaults. She stated that the Commission is now strictly enforcing compliance with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, which mandates that employers remit pension contributions within seven working days of salary payment.

PenCom has engaged accredited Recovery Agents to ensure the recovery of unpaid pension contributions from employers who persistently violate the law. These agents have been instrumental in the Commission’s recovery efforts since 2012.

Recovery of Outstanding Pension Contributions

PenCom reported the recovery of ₦32.27 billion between June 2012 and September 2025. This amount consists of:

• ₦15.87 billion in principal contributions.
• ₦16.40 billion in penalties.

In the third quarter of 2025, PenCom recovered ₦2.06 billion from 49 defaulting employers, which includes ₦775 million in principal and ₦1.27 billion in penalties.

PenCom’s Partnership with ICPC

PenCom has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). This partnership gives the ICPC the authority to hold employers personally accountable for pension defaults, making such violations subject to criminal penalties. The MoU aims to strengthen enforcement and ensure that employers face serious consequences for failing to remit pension funds.

PenCom’s Strong Stand

Ms. Oloworaran emphasized that the era of impunity is over and stressed that every unremitted Naira represents a broken promise to Nigerian workers. PenCom is now focusing on mandating enforced compliance, shifting from voluntary adherence to strict enforcement.

She concluded with a strong message:

“No employer should imagine that withholding workers’ pensions is without consequences.”