The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has extended the deadline for mandatory online verification and enrolment of civil servants entitled to accrued pension rights amid low participation in the exercise.

The commission moved the deadline from July 31 to December 31, 2026, after only 31,099 employees completed the enrolment process out of an estimated 150,000 active Federal Government workers eligible for the accrued benefits.

As of July, PenCom said Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had uploaded 62,320 records of active employees and retirees. However, less than half of the records had progressed to completed enrolment.

PenCom said the extension followed requests from MDAs for additional time to enable eligible employees to participate in the exercise.

The exercise, which began in February 2026, aims to determine the accrued pension rights of employees who transited from the former Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

Under Section 15(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, employees who moved to the CPS are entitled to benefits earned under the DBS before the transition. The accrued rights comprise pension and gratuity benefits earned from the date of first appointment up to June 30, 2004.

PenCom said determining the benefits was necessary to establish the Federal Government’s outstanding pension liabilities and make adequate budgetary provisions for their settlement.

The commission also said the exercise would enable determined benefits to be credited to beneficiaries’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), where they could earn investment returns ahead of retirement.

It stated that enrolment was being conducted digitally through PenCom’s Contributions and Bond Redemption Application (COBRA), with MDAs responsible for uploading eligible employees’ details.

Affected employees, it said, must then approach their respective Pension Fund Administrators with the necessary documents to complete the process, while Pension Desk Officers coordinate the exercise within their organisations.

PenCom urged eligible employees who had not enrolled, as well as those who started but did not complete the process, to do so before the new December 31 deadline.

It said all active employees of Federal Government Treasury-funded MDAs who were in service as of June 30, 2004, are covered by the accrued pension rights provisions.