The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has intensified efforts to expand pension coverage by bringing nearly 80 million informal-sector workers into the national retirement savings net through its newly redesigned Personal Pension Plan (PPP).
The Commission says the initiative marks a major push toward closing Nigeria’s long-standing pension gap, especially among artisans, traders, gig workers, market operators, freelancers, farmers and other citizens who have traditionally been excluded from formal social protection systems.
Speaking at the Annual Conference of the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PENCAN) in Abuja, the Director General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian—regardless of employment status—can look forward to a secure retirement.
Represented by Ibrahim Buwai, Head of Corporate Communications at PenCom, she noted that Nigeria’s workforce is largely informal, yet this group remains severely under-covered.
The conference, themed “Inclusion & Innovations: Bridging the Pension Gap for Nigeria’s Informal Sector,” brought together regulators, pension operators and journalists to discuss new strategies for improving pension participation.
Oloworaran said the earlier Micro Pension Plan, launched in 2019, recorded only modest results with about 200,000 contributors and assets of roughly N1 billion—far below the scale of the country’s needs. She explained that this led to the complete re-engineering of the scheme into the Personal Pension Plan (PPP), designed to be more flexible, innovative and technology-driven.
According to her, pension participation among informal workers has long been hindered by low awareness, irregular incomes, complicated enrolment processes and the misconception that pensions are meant only for formal-sector employees.
The PPP, she stated, was crafted to break these barriers by offering simplified onboarding, digital contribution channels, flexible payment schedules and transparent administration.
“With this approach, we anticipate a major boost in pension participation among informal workers,” she said. “This will drive financial inclusion, mobilise domestic capital for development and guarantee retirement security for millions of Nigerians who previously had none.”
Also speaking at the event, the Acting CEO of the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Ms. Anthony Ifeanyi-Okoro, described pension systems as a “social contract” that ensures dignity and stability in old age.
She noted that while Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has brought significant reforms and strengthened governance since 2004, a huge proportion of the workforce still operates outside the formal pension structure.
Ify-Okoro stressed that expanding access through the PPP is essential to achieving the full social and economic benefits of Nigeria’s pension system. She highlighted the PPP’s flexible contribution options, simplified registration, and digital processes as vital tools for capturing millions of informal workers.
In her welcome remarks, PENCAN President Nana Musa applauded PenCom and pension operators for ongoing reforms under the PPP, but emphasized that more work is needed in awareness creation, trust-building, technology-led onboarding and policy incentives.
She noted that the informal sector—which accounts for more than 80 percent of Nigeria’s workforce—remains the most vulnerable to old-age poverty due to limited access to formal retirement systems.
According to her, this year’s conference provides a crucial platform for regulators, operators and the media to develop strategies that can make pensions more attractive and accessible to informal workers.
Musa added that PENCAN’s role goes beyond reporting pension matters, saying the association positions itself as a development partner committed to amplifying stakeholder voices, tracking progress and strengthening accountability in Nigeria’s pension ecosystem.
