The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has raised concerns over the low level of participation in the Personal Pension Plan (PPP), revealing that more than nine out of every 10 registered accounts had no contributions as of March 2026.
According to PenCom's first-quarter 2026 industry report, 219,316 PPP accounts had been registered by the end of the first quarter, but only 18,811, representing 8.58 per cent, had received contributions.
The remaining 200,505 accounts, or 91.42 per cent, were unfunded.
The commission said the development showed the urgent need to move workers from merely registering for the scheme to making regular pension contributions.
“Of the 219,316 PPP accounts registered, only 18,811 are funded, highlighting the need to strengthen the transition from registration to active savings to achieve the 30% funded ratio target by Q4 2026,” PenCom stated.
The PPP was established to expand pension coverage to workers outside the mandatory Contributory Pension Scheme, particularly employees and operators in the informal sector.
During the quarter, 7,452 new PPP accounts were registered, while contributions stood at N147.16 million.
PenCom said total contributions under the scheme since its inception had risen to N1.66 billion by the end of March 2026.
It also reported that 15 contributors accessed N11.12 million during the quarter through the contingent withdrawal window.
AccessARM leads registrations
AccessARM Pension Managers accounted for 52.4 per cent of cumulative PPP registrations, making it the largest operator in the segment.
Fidelity Pension Managers recorded the strongest funding performance among the operators highlighted by the commission, with 87 per cent of its 2,015 PPP accounts funded.
Guaranty Trust Pensions had 2,254 registered PPP accounts, with 54 per cent funded, while FCMB Pensions recorded 14,424 accounts and a funding ratio of 32 per cent.
Veritas Glanvills had 4,455 PPP accounts, with 30 per cent of them funded.
PenCom identified the low funding rate as a major challenge to the expansion of pension coverage, especially in the informal sector.
The commission estimated Nigeria's informal-sector workforce at 92.1 million but put PPP penetration at only 0.24 per cent.
It said it would step up monitoring of accredited pension agents and deepen collaboration with cooperatives, fintech companies, telecommunications operators, trade unions and professional associations to increase enrolment and contributions.
The commission also announced plans to introduce quarterly funding-conversion targets for pension operators from the second quarter.
The two operators with the highest cumulative PPP volumes will be required to submit conversion strategies with their next quarterly returns.
Pension assets cross N29tn
Despite the challenge posed by the low funding of personal pension accounts, the wider pension industry recorded strong growth during the quarter.
Total pension assets rose from N27.45 trillion at the end of December 2025 to N29.52 trillion by March 2026, representing an increase of N2.07 trillion or 7.53 per cent.
PenCom attributed much of the growth to a 38.09 per cent appreciation in domestic quoted equities, which increased the value of pension funds invested in domestic equities by N1.50 trillion.
The commission also reported an increase in Retirement Savings Account registrations under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
RSA registrations rose from 11.04 million at the end of 2025 to 11.18 million by March 2026, following the opening of 143,248 new accounts during the quarter.
Young workers accounted for the bulk of the new registrations, with 75.31 per cent of the newly opened RSAs belonging to contributors below 40 years.
PenCom said expanding pension coverage would remain central to its Pension Revolution 2.0 agenda, particularly efforts to bring more informal-sector workers into the pension system and ensure that registered accounts become active savings accounts.
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