Pension remittances among employers are improving, driven by increased enforcement by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), even as recoveries over the last five quarters have reached N4.7 billion.
Between first quarter 2024 and first quarter 2025, PenCom recovered N2.12 billion in contributions and N2.45 billion in penalties from 138 defaulting employers.
This development is evidence that enforcement continues to safeguard workers’ retirement savings, according to Oguche Agudah, chief executive officer of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp).
Agudah stated that the Commission’s enforcement efforts have delivered steady recoveries from defaulting employers.
He disclosed that the highest total recovery occurred in Q1 2024, when N751.51 million in outstanding contributions and N1.44 billion in penalties were recouped.
“Activity dipped through mid-2024, picked up in Q4, and then rebounded strongly in Q1 2025 with N972.12 million in contributions and N381.88 million in penalties recovered from 19 employers,” Agudah explained.
He emphasized that the composition of the recovery matters:
“While Q1 2025 wasn’t the highest quarter overall, it posted the strongest principal (contribution) recovery of the period and the highest average haul per employer, about N71 million, compared to roughly N63 million in Q1 2024. This suggests that larger, more material cases were tackled, even as the number of defaulters declined.”
Agudah noted that the trend also signals the direction for the future, stating that a shift from episodic crackdowns to sustainable prevention, through enhanced real-time remittance monitoring, stiffer sanctions for chronic defaulters, and deeper employer education will reduce repeat offenses.
According to him, the ultimate goal is not just to generate headlines through large recoveries but to ensure fewer defaults, faster remittances, and a stronger, more predictable Contributory Pension Scheme.
The PenOp CEO also stressed the importance of employee awareness.“It is vital that workers know their rights. All employers engaging three or more staff are required by law to remit pensions on behalf of their employees.”
He advised employees to make use of available whistle-blowing mechanisms if their organisations fail to comply. “Pension is your right,” Agudah stated.
Section 11 (5) (b) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA 2004) as amended in 2014, provides that the employer shall not later than 7 days from the day the employee is paid his/her salary, remit an amount comprising the employee’s and employer’s pension contributions to the custodian specified by the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) of the employee.
Furthermore, Section 11 (7) provides that any employer who fails to remit the contributions within the time prescribed shall, in addition to making the remittance already due, be liable to a penalty to be stipulated by the Commission provided that the penalty shall not be less than 2 percent of the total contributions that remains unpaid for each month the default continues.
