The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has challenged pension fund administrators (PFAs) to open three million additional funded retirement savings accounts within one year. The directive is part of the moves to extend pension coverage to millions of Nigerians outside formal employment and strengthen retirement protection amid rising living costs.

The commission also set June 30, 2027, as the final deadline for pension fund administrators and pension fund custodians (PFCs) to complete their recapitalisation, warning that the date would not be extended. The recapitalisation drive is intended to support a stronger industry capable of safeguarding contributors’ savings, improving service delivery and meeting the demands of an expanding pension system.

The two measures form part of a broader reform agenda aimed at expanding pension coverage, improving retirement benefits, strengthening industry operators and mobilising long-term pension savings for productive investment.

Director-General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, announced the measures at the National Pension Conference and Awards in Abuja, held as part of the maiden National Pension Week 2026.

She said the next phase of pension reform must be judged not by the volume of assets accumulated by the industry but by the number of Nigerians whose retirement years are financially secured.

“The next great reform in Nigeria will not be measured by how much money we manage. It will be measured by how many Nigerians we protect,” she said.

The target comes as pension assets rose from N20.7 trillion in July 2024 to N31.8 trillion at the end of August 2026, an increase of approximately N11.1 trillion in just over two years.

But Oloworaran said the industry’s expanding asset base must translate into broader participation, better retirement benefits and stronger protection for contributors, particularly workers whose irregular incomes and employment arrangements leave them outside conventional pension schemes.

Under the new expansion drive, PenCom is seeking three million additional funded retirement savings accounts within 12 months, with PFAs committing to support the target.

The emphasis on funded accounts is significant because registration alone does not guarantee retirement security.

She said millions of Nigerians earn their livelihoods as traders, artisans, farmers, commercial transport operators and self-employed professionals without the regular salaries that underpin conventional pension arrangements.

She noted that PenCom plans to deepen the use of personal pension plans, digital registration platforms and pension agents to bring more of these workers into the system.

According to her, “A pension system that covers only the payroll is not a national pension system.”

The expansion is expected to widen the pool of retirement savers while creating opportunities for pension operators to develop products suited to workers with irregular incomes.

Oloworaran also disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was expected to launch a pension security initiative in November 2026, incorporating a minimum pension guarantee and a healthcare component for retirees.

The proposed initiative is intended to address concerns over inadequate retirement benefits and the difficulty some elderly Nigerians face in meeting essential living and healthcare costs.

The PenCom chief argued that pension participation would have limited value if the eventual benefits could not provide retirees with a reasonable standard of living.

She said retirement protection must extend beyond monthly payments to address the vulnerability of elderly citizens who struggle to afford basic necessities, including food and medicines.

The commission also urged employers to calculate pension contributions correctly, warning that contributions based on artificially low pensionable salaries could undermine workers’ retirement income.

It called for stronger enforcement of employers’ contribution obligations and the recovery of unpaid pension deductions owed to workers.

The commission said it would continue to deploy its regulatory powers to improve compliance, recover outstanding contributions and strengthen accountability across the industry.

Beyond expanding coverage and strengthening operators, PenCom wants pension assets to play a greater role in financing Nigeria’s economic development without compromising contributors’ interests.

Oloworaran said pension savings could support investments in infrastructure, electricity, roads and productive enterprises, potentially helping to address financing constraints that limit economic growth and job creation.

But she stressed that pension funds belong to workers and must not be treated as government resources or the property of pension operators.

Investment decisions, she said, must be guided by transparency, evidence, prudent risk assessment and the need to generate competitive returns for contributors.