Nigeria seeks better pension protection for private-sector workers
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Business Day Nigeria
Illustrative image · Edmond Dantès · Pexels · Licence PexelsNearly 70% of Nigerian private-sector workers receive a pension below the minimum wage on retirement, according to the National Pension Commission. Its director-general, Omolola Oloworaran, is calling for wider coverage and a review of the contribution base, with a target of three million new accounts.
Nearly 70% of Nigerian private-sector workers retire with a pension below the national minimum wage, according to Omolola Oloworaran, director-general of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). She called for reforms to expand coverage and improve benefits during the closing day of National Pension Week 2026 in Abuja, Business Day Nigeria reports.
More than 55% of retirees whose pension is below the minimum wage come from the private sector, she added. According to Oloworaran, contributions are calculated on pensionable earnings rather than total remuneration, which can reduce the amounts saved. The compulsory combined rate is 18% of monthly emoluments: 10% paid by the employer and 8% by the employee. She compared this system with Australia’s, where employers contribute 12% of ordinary earnings, and called on Nigerian companies to contribute to the Pension Protection Fund, already financed by the federal government and the pensions sector.
PenCom is also targeting the opening of three million new pension accounts and has set June 2027 as the deadline for recapitalisation of sector operators, according to the objectives announced by Business Day Nigeria.
