A review of the portfolio shows that federal government securities remain the dominant investment class, increasing by 1.3% to ₦15.9 trillion. Of this amount, ₦15.1 trillion was invested in FGN bonds (up from ₦14.9 trillion in September), ₦686.2 billion in treasury bills (up from ₦616.3 billion), while investments in corporate debt securities declined slightly to ₦2.16 trillion, from ₦2.24 trillion the previous month.
Retirement Savings Account (RSA) membership also continued its upward trend, rising to 10,970,979 contributors by the end of October, from 10,928,039 in September.
PenCom Shifts to Zero Tolerance on Pension Defaults
Speaking on the Commission’s broader compliance efforts, PenCom Director General, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, said the regulator has entered a “new era of zero tolerance” for pension remittance violations. She explained that accredited Recovery Agents now play a central role in reinforcing Nigeria’s social contract with workers by tracking down employers who fail to remit pension contributions as required under the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.
The Act mandates employers to remit pension contributions within seven working days of salary payment — a requirement PenCom says many organisations continue to ignore.
Oloworaran reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to aggressive enforcement, noting that Recovery Agents audit defaulters, calculate outstanding liabilities, issue demand notices and pursue recoveries. Since the recovery framework began in 2012, PenCom has retrieved ₦32.27 billion from defaulting employers — consisting of ₦15.87 billion in unremitted contributions and ₦16.40 billion in penalties.
The momentum strengthened further in the third quarter of 2025, when PenCom recovered ₦2.06 billion from 49 defaulting employers, comprising ₦775 million in principal and ₦1.27 billion in penalties.
Despite these gains, Oloworaran warned that persistent defaults still pose a threat to the sustainability of the CPS.
“Every unremitted Naira represents a broken promise to a Nigerian worker. The era of impunity is over. We have moved from encouraging voluntary compliance to mandating enforced compliance,” she said.
New MoU with ICPC Targets Recalcitrant Employers
To strengthen enforcement, PenCom recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The agreement empowers ICPC to hold the management of defaulting organisations personally liable, potentially escalating pension violations into criminal offences.
Oloworaran described the MoU as a decisive move:
“No employer should imagine that withholding workers’ pensions is without consequences. This partnership gives teeth to our recovery efforts.”
With assets climbing steadily and enforcement mechanisms tightening, PenCom says it remains committed to safeguarding pension funds and ensuring that every Nigerian worker receives the benefits guaranteed under the CPS.