Benin, Nov. 20, 2025 – The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says only 17 states have adopted the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Omolola Oloworaran, its Director-General, said this in Benin on Wednesday.
She said 12 states had not started the scheme at all, while seven states were at various stages of establishing the scheme.
Oloworaran, who was represented by Samuel Uwandu, the Pencom Commissioner for Inspectorate, said the success of the scheme depended on the states adopting the CPS/Contributory Defined Benefit Scheme (CDBS)
She commended the states that had adopted the scheme and commenced contribution remittances for their workers.
The Pencom boss said the commission had achieved timely payment of accrued pension rights, re-introduced gratuity payments for federal civil servants under the CPS as well as introduced a new pension contribution remittance system to eliminate errors and delays.
She said Pencom was redesigning and rebranding the micro-pension plan for informal sector workers as personal pension plan to accommodate those in the informal sector.
“Today, under the CPS, that promise is being kept for over 10.9 million workers at the Federal, State, and Private Sector levels, with pension assets now topping ₦26 trillion, fueling our nation’s development. But our mission as an industry is not complete.
“The success of this national reform rests on its implementation in every State, Local Government, and across the Informal Sector. This Forum is the engine of that collaboration.
“This November marks one year since I assumed office as Director General of the National Pension Commission. It has been a year of deliberate reform, focused on strengthening governance and expanding the value of the pension system for all Nigerians.
“17 states out of the 36 states in the country are currently implementing the contributing pension scheme.
“Twelve states have not started at all, while seven states are at various stages of establishing their pension bureaus,” she said.
