National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said rising inflation has continued to erode the purchasing power of pensioners, and that it was seeking solutions to the challenge.

Part of the solution, according to PenCom, is working with the Federal Government to put in place a sustainable solution that ensures retirees receive their benefits promptly, without stress, especially with the N44 billion approved under the 2024 budget appropriation to settle accrued pension rights for retirees from March to September 2023.

PenCom Director-General, Omolara Oloworaran, said this yesterday, during a media conference, with the theme: ‘Tech-Driven Transformation: Shaping the Pension Landscape’, noting that the commission had continued to face the delays in the payment of accrued rights.

However, since assuming office, she said the commission had focused on strengthening compliance, enhancing service delivery.diversifying pension assets to optimise returns, improving benefits and expanding coverage to include more Nigerians, especially those in the informal sector, in a bid to attract not fewer than 20 million Nigerians to the scheme.

“The micro-pension initiative, in particular, is something we are very passionate about. It is our way of saying that no one should be left behind, no matter how small their earnings might be. Technology plays a vital role in driving this inclusion, from mobile enrollment to real-time account management to benefits administration. We intend to use technology to scale the micro-pension plan,” she said.

On the theme, she said that technology had become the backbone of transformation across all sectors, and the pension industry was no exception.