Over 92% of personal pension savings accounts remain unfunded
By Rosemary Iwunze
Amidst efforts by the National Pension Commission, PenCom, to include informal sector workers in the pension scheme, the Personal Pension Plan, PPP, which caters to the informal sector, has remained stagnant.
While the PPP has 215,412 registered Retirement Savings Accounts, RSAs, only 17,320 of these RSAs, which represents 8.0 per cent, have received contributions. The remaining 198,092 RSAs, which represent 92.0 per cent, are dormant.
PenCom, in its fourth quarter 2025 report stated that registrations are not savings and registration without funding is creating a misleading picture of inclusion.
To improve on the situation, PenCom stated: “We will accelerate engagement and onboarding under the Accredited Pension Agent framework; Activate accredited agents; deepen distribution partnerships with cooperatives, fintechs, telcos, trade unions, and professional associations; and drive sustained sensitisation campaigns to bring informal sector workers, MSMEs, gig workers, and self-employed Nigerians onto the Personal Pension Plan.”
On adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme by state governments, PenCom stated: “Adoption by state governments remained stalled in Q4’25.
The position is more uneven than a simple Bureau count conveys. Only eight states are fully compliant with the CPS. A further seventeen States have passed pension reform legislation but have not yet moved to implementation; a population that should now be the principal focus of bilateral compliance engagement. Jigawa State runs a fully implemented Contributory Defined Benefits Scheme. Kano State, despite progress on enabling legislation, is operating outside the regulatory architecture: its pension funds are still held with commercial banks rather than being placed under licensed Pension Fund Administrators.”
Speaking, Director General of PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran said that the overarching goal of the pension scheme is to build a resilient system. “Our objective is clear, to build a market that works efficiently and sustainably for all pension contributors.”
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