Pension Remittances: PenCom Recovers N32bn from Defaulting Employers

Ebere Nwoji

The National Pension Commission (PenCom), said it had recovered a total of N32.27 billion from employers who refused to remit pension deductions from their employees’ salaries.

The commission said the above amount recovered by its newly selected recovery agents comprises of N15.87 billion recovered as principal contributions and N16.40 billion as penalties from defaulting employers between June 2012 and September 2025.

In addition, PenCom said it had recorded significant compliance gains in the third quarter of 2025 alone, recovering N2.06 billion (N775 million principal and N1.27 billion penalties) from 49 defaulting employers, reflecting a sustained surge in enforcement activities.

The Director General PenCom, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran stated these during an intensive training workshop for accredited recovery agents  recently held in Lagos.

Oloworaran said,  PenCom had ushered in a new era of zero tolerance for pension defaults with accredited recovery agents serving as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s social contract with its workers. The PenCom DG was represented at the workshop by the Commissioner Inspectorate of the Commission, Samuel Chigozie Uwandu.

She told the workshop participants that despite the successes of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), persistent defaults by employers threaten the fundamental purpose of the system.

“Every unremitted Naira represents a broken promise to a Nigerian worker, this Commission has moved from promoting voluntary compliance to mandating enforced compliance,” she stated.

She said the training marked a renewed nationwide compliance push to recover outstanding pension contributions and penalties from employers who persistently violate the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, which mandates remittance of pension contributions within seven working days of salary payment.