The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has made contributions to the N400 billion Pension Protection Fund a compulsory condition for state governments seeking to access the newly introduced N52,500 minimum monthly pension for their retirees.

PenCom Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, during the launch of the Presidential Pension Security Initiative in Abuja.

She explained that although the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme covers eligible retirees across the federal public service, state governments and the private sector, states must contribute to the Pension Protection Fund before their retirees can benefit from the arrangement.

According to her, the requirement is intended to guarantee the sustainability of the scheme and prevent the fund from running out of resources as more pensioners are brought under its coverage.

“We are making it a requirement that states must contribute to the Pension Protection Fund before they can be eligible for minimum pension. So we work out that modality at state level because we all know the fund needs to be sustainable,” Oloworaran said.

She warned that allowing states to benefit without contributing could undermine the initiative in the coming years.

“If people are not contributing, we’ll run out of funds, and we can’t start a laudable initiative like this and then five or 10 years from now somebody says it has stopped working because people are not contributing,” she added.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu formally activated the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme at the event, setting N52,500 as the minimum monthly pension for eligible retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

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The initiative is expected to benefit 173,209 retirees whose monthly pension payments are below the approved threshold.

Oloworaran explained that every eligible retiree under the CPS currently receiving less than N52,500 would have their pension adjusted to meet the new minimum.

“Every eligible retiree who is below N52,500 will be augmented to N52,500. So, of course, like I said, everybody, there’s no discrimination. If you are within the CPS and you’ve been within the CPS, you will get it,” she stated.

She clarified that the contribution requirement specifically applies to state governments seeking to extend the benefit to their retirees. Eligible federal and private-sector pensioners are also covered by the initiative.

A breakdown of the expected beneficiaries showed that private-sector retirees account for 54 per cent of the 173,209 pensioners, while federal public service retirees represent 34 per cent and state government retirees account for 12 per cent.

The PenCom chief also disclosed that more than 65 per cent of private-sector retirees currently receive monthly pensions below the N52,500 threshold.

She consequently appealed to private-sector employers and other stakeholders to contribute to the Pension Protection Fund, stressing that its sustainability required broader financial participation.

Oloworaran said the N52,500 benchmark was determined through an actuarial assessment and would be reviewed periodically to reflect prevailing economic realities.

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The N400 billion Pension Protection Fund is being supported by the Federal Government and the pension industry to finance the minimum pension guarantee.

Beyond the pension increase, the Presidential Pension Security Initiative also includes PenCare, a healthcare programme designed to provide essential medical services to low-income retirees.

Oloworaran said the pension industry had committed more than N7 billion to the healthcare initiative, with insurance premiums already paid for nearly 30,000 pensioners.

She urged eligible retirees who had not received their healthcare access cards to approach their respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to obtain them.

The minimum pension guarantee represents the implementation of a provision first introduced under the Pension Reform Act 2004 and reaffirmed in the 2014 legislation.

The provision had remained largely unimplemented for more than two decades before the Federal Government announced its activation.

PenCom said it was also engaging state governments to improve pension administration, address outstanding retirement obligations and encourage regular reviews of pension payments.

The commission maintained that state participation and sustained contributions would be critical to ensuring that retirees receive the benefits promised under the new arrangement.