29 States Still Haven’t Fully Rolled Out the Contributory Pension Scheme, PenCom Says  

By Victor Idajili

Nearly three-quarters of Nigeria’s states are yet to fully put the Contributory Pension Scheme into practice, the National Pension Commission has revealed.  

PenCom Director General Omolola Oloworaran said on Thursday that 29 states are still lagging behind on full implementation, even though the law is already on their books. She spoke at a meeting in Abuja with Heads of Service from those states.  

Only eight places have gotten it right so far: Lagos, Kaduna, Delta, Ekiti, Osun, Edo, Jigawa, and the FCT.  

“Your presence here isn’t for show,” Oloworaran told the state officials. “It’s a sign that we’re ready to move pension reform from paper into the lives of public servants.”  

She stressed that pension reform isn’t optional. It’s required by Section 210 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees retirement benefits for civil servants at both federal and state levels.  

“The old pension system failed badly,” she said. “The Contributory Pension Scheme was created to replace uncertainty with certainty, and lack of transparency with accountability. But passing a law doesn’t pay anyone’s pension. Implementation does.”  

Of the 36 states with pension reform laws, only seven plus the FCT are fully implementing them. Another six states have bills before their assemblies and are expected to pass them this year. That leaves 23 states where the law exists but isn’t really working for civil servants.  

“That’s 23 sets of public servants whose retirement future is still uncertain, not because there’s no law, but because the law hasn’t been activated,” Oloworaran said.  

There was some good news on the federal side. She announced that all outstanding pension liabilities have now been cleared after President Bola Tinubu approved and released ₦758 billion in 2025.  

“There are no outstanding pension liabilities at the federal level today,” she said. “It shows this administration’s commitment to the welfare and dignity of Nigerians who have served the country.”  

Head of Service of the Federation, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, said the goal now is to make sure state civil servants get the same benefits.  

“Most states have the law in place. It’s just about implementation,” she said. “PenCom has the technical know-how to support them, and we’re taking a whole-of-government approach to make it happen.”