Tinubu approves new minimum pension for retirees
President Bola Tinubu has approved a new minimum monthly pension of ₦52,500 for 173,209 retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The initiative, announced on Tuesday, brings an end to a 22-year delay in implementing the minimum pension guarantee provided for under Nigeria’s pension laws.
Tinubu also launched a healthcare programme known as the Pension Industry Healthcare Plan for Retirees (PenCare), which is designed to provide free essential medical services to pensioners with low incomes.
The President, who was represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, made the announcements at the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives ceremony held at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja.
With the inauguration, the minimum pension guarantee, which was first introduced in the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and retained in the 2014 amendment, has officially become operational.
The provision had remained unimplemented under successive administrations, leaving many retirees without the protection of a guaranteed minimum monthly income.
Tinubu said the new arrangement would ensure that pensioners who contributed to the scheme would not receive less than the approved minimum amount.
He also called on future governments to sustain the policy and ensure that the minimum pension was increased when necessary rather than scrapped.
On the healthcare initiative, the President explained that PenCare would reduce the financial burden of medical treatment on vulnerable retirees, particularly those whose pension savings were insufficient to meet their healthcare needs.
He disclosed that beneficiaries would begin receiving healthcare access cards in the coming months, allowing them to obtain essential medical services without paying.
The President further revealed that his administration had issued a ₦758bn bond to address outstanding pension obligations accumulated over the years.
He also said the Federal Government had approved a ₦32,000 monthly consequential adjustment for affected federal pensioners.
Tinubu added that state governments had collectively spent more than ₦1tn to settle pension liabilities.
He attributed the improved financial position of state governments partly to the removal of the petrol subsidy, which he said had increased the revenue available to them.
Citing a World Bank report, the President disclosed that state governments recorded about 93 per cent growth in revenue in real terms between 2023 and 2025.
He also noted that the proportion of state budgets allocated to capital projects increased from 46 per cent to 61 per cent within the same period.
Tinubu further stated that government-backed credit programmes had provided more than ₦64bn to 174,000 borrowers.
According to him, over 350,000 Nigerians had also benefited from approximately ₦53bn in consumer credit.
