News Investigators/ The Contributory Pension and Happy Retirement Advocacy (COPEHRA), has commended the Federal Government on the proposed N1.376 trillion to clear pensions, gratuities and retirees’ benefits for 2026.
The COPEHRA Chairman, Sani Mustapha, gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
According to Mustapha, 2026 will be a more robust and timely year for pensioners.
The chairman said that the National Pension Commission (PenCom) had also made significant strides in paying pensioners.
He said it had disbursed more than N577 billion from a N758 billion bond to clear arrears and boost welfare, with payments reaching over a million Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) by late 2025.
The chairman said that monthly payments were rising, and reforms were improving benefit adequacy, signaling a new era of timely and enhanced pension support.
Mustapha commended the PenCom future outlook and reforms which are: “Zero waiting time, which aims for a system with zero waiting time for benefits.
“Increased monthly payouts with monthly payments rising significantly (e.g., from N8.3 bn to N11.9 billion in mid-2025) due to strong investment returns.
“Pension Revolution 2.0: A comprehensive reform programme focusing on stronger governance, digital transformation, and improved adequacy for the scheme,” he said.
The chairman advised pensioniers with any issue regarding their pensions to lodge complaints t through the right channel.
He also urged the informal workers to take advantage of the Personal Pension Plan (PPP) which offered greater flexibility in contributions and withdrawals.
The chairman said the scheme was designed to cater for artisans, traders, transport operators, and other informal earners who lacked access to formal pension arrangements to help save for their retirement.
NAN
I think the police pensions is in the news for the wrong reason. They have started again by withholding our benefits the president has graciously released funds for. uptill this moment, the police pension has refused to release the wages increament arrears of some retirees with the flimsy excuses of disparities in date of birth in NIN. The question now is were there no disparities in the date of birth when the lump sum was paid alongside other benefits? I think they should be advised immediately before the unthinkable will happen again.
while the intervention late 2025 was commendable, the pension board should take note that most retirees are yet to see any increment on our monthly take homes.