It is 28 days to the end of the year 2025 and the question begging for answer on the lip of every retiree of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) is will the National Pension Commission (PenCom) deliver on its promise to pay all outstanding debts owed under Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
To achieve this vow, PenCom issued N758bn bond approved by the Federal Government to clear legacy pension/back-log liabilities under scheme would be cleared with target, by year-end. According to the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran in February this year, this is expected to cover multiple liabilities, back-payments for pension increase arrears going back to 2007; accrued pension rights owed to retirees of Federal Government Treasury-funded MDAs; shortfalls for certain categories like university professors; and arrears of gratuities.
The DG later revealed the allocation breakdown as N253 billion to clear outstanding entitlements of retirees from Treasury-funded MDAs; N388billon to unpaid pension increases since 2007; N11billion earmarked for pension shortfalls for eligible university professors to allow retirement on full salary as legally allowed; and N107 billion allocated to a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) aimed at supporting lower-income retirees.
Timeline & expectations
Early in 2025, Oloworaran said the bond would be issued within roughly three months and funds released for immediate disbursement to retirees.
By mid-2025, under a new policy labelled Pension Boost 1.0, monthly pensions for many retirees were increased, and PenCom said accrued pension rights and arrears for those who exited service up to March 2025 had been cleared.
PenCom also announced that waiting-time for pension payments had been eliminated as of July 2025; retirees should receive benefits promptly upon retirement.
In November 2025, the DG reaffirmed that once the bond matured; all outstanding pension arrears and gratuities owed pensioners would be cleared.
Despite the public assurances, key questions among retirees remain
Mr. Olumide Ajose, a retiree asked, has the bond actually been cashed and funds disbursed fully?
Another retiree, Mrs. Ndidi Okoro added, “PenCom said the bond will be converted to cash and arrears and gratuities paid before end of year but this is first week in December, we are yet to be paid”.
What’s genuinely new?
The promise that all arrears and gratuities will be cleared by December 2025 once the bond matures, not just arrears, but also lump-sum and gratuity payments is genuinely new.
Also genuinely new is the confirmation that pension payments now have zero waiting time. With this, retirees should access benefits immediately upon retirement.
Oloworaran said the commission is expanding reforms beyond arrears, including asset-diversification, extending scheme coverage informal sector, more states, and emphasis on sustainability of pension fund returns.
These points indicate that PenCom is trying to shift from just cleaning old debts to reform and modernise the retirement system though execution remains to be shown.
What this means for CPS pensioners
Findings by the newspaper show that the N758 billion bond and related reforms represent one of the clearest efforts in years to address systemic pension backlogs in Nigeria under CPS.
If fully implemented as stated, many retirees stand to finally receive years of unpaid entitlements, back-dated increases, and possibly gratuities, a major win after long delays.
But the gap between promises and delivery remains the problem. Until there is public, verifiable evidence that every eligible pensioner has been paid in full or at least a large majority, many will understandably remain skeptical.
Also, the reforms are promising but still partly aspirational, conditioned on proper disbursement and institutional follow-through.
Conclusion
Overall, PenCom DG has said the bond isn’t just a promise as they have taken steps from bond approval to issuance, payment-boost, regular monthly pension and backlog clearance, all of which shows progress towards honoring their past obligations.
It seems fair to state that PenCom under new leadership is making real progress toward fulfilling the obligations tied to the N758bn bond.
The facts going by the newspaper findings points at bond approved and issued, monthly pensions is boosted, pension payments for retirees is stable, and there are official assurances that arrears and gratuities will be cleared.
The newspaper had exclusively asked the DG in an interview last month if she was witnessing any challenge in actualizing her goals on N758billion Bond as it seems to be dragging, also bearing in mind her speed in achieving other set targets.
Responding, she said: “Yes I move with speed but you know, with government, you need approvals. There are various stages in getting things done in government and we have to follow up the process.
“Right now, we are almost at the finish line. I think we started this year, the president approved, the Bond add to be issued, and we had to go to various processes within the government to get the bond issued and then get the funding and disburse the funds.
“We are the very last stage and I can promise you that this matter will be resolved before the end of this year. It can be a lot earlier but I like to give more time because I don’t want to under deliver. So it’s going to come much quicker but before the end of this year”, she maintained.
