75m Nigerians Risk Retiring Without Pensions – PenCom

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has warned that more than 75 million Nigerians in the informal sector risk retiring without pensions or savings, highlighting a major gap in the country’s social protection system.

The Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, made the disclosure in Abuja while presenting a licensed pension agent certificate to Awabah, the first company accredited under PenCom’s new pension agent framework.

She noted that Nigeria’s pension reforms since 2004 have largely benefited formal sector workers, leaving informal workers, who make up over 90% of the workforce, outside the safety net.

According to the DG pension coverage among this group stands at 0.25%.

“In practical terms, we can round that down to zero. This means most of these workers retire with nothing, no savings, no pensions and no safety net,” Oloworaran warned. “After decades of hard work, old age should bring peace, not fear.”

She recalled that the 2004 Pension Reform Act transformed retirement security, growing pension assets to over ₦27 trillion with more than 10 million retirement savings accounts.

But she stressed that the system mainly covers formal workers, leaving millions of traders, artisans, farmers, and small business owners unprotected.

To close the gap, PenCom has rebranded the micro-pension plan as the personal pension plan and introduced accredited pension agents to drive inclusion.

Technology will play a central role, enabling informal workers to make small, flexible contributions via mobile platforms and access accounts in real time.

Awabah CEO Tunji Andrews said the company was founded to address the lack of financial protection among informal workers.

“No African worker should be one mishap away from poverty,” he said, adding that Awabah’s pension offering combines retirement savings with insurance coverage for as little as ₦3,000 a month.