By Hopejane Uzor
More than 75 million Nigerians working in the informal sector are at risk of retiring without any form of pension or retirement savings, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Omolola Oloworaran, has said.
on the 9 Monday 2026 in Abuja at the presentation of a licensed accredited pension agent certificate to Awabah, the first company approved under PenCom’s newly introduced pension agent framework.
She said Nigeria’s pension reforms have largely benefited formal sector workers, leaving the vast majority of informal workers without any safety net.
Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the PenCom DG said over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce operates in the informal economy, yet pension coverage among this group remains at about 0.25 per cent.
Oloworaran, noted that this translates to millions of market traders, artisans, farmers, transport operators, technicians and small business owners retiring with no savings, pensions or social protection.
“In practical terms, we can round that down to zero,” Oloworaran said. “This means that most of these workers retire with nothing—no savings, no pensions, and no safety net. After decades of hard work, old age should bring peace, not fear.
This gap is not only a social challenge; it is a national vulnerability.”
She recalled that the 2004 Pension Reform Act transformed Nigeria’s pension system by introducing a contributory scheme that replaced unfunded pension promises with regulated savings.
According to her, pension assets have grown to over ₦27 trillion, with more than 10 million retirement savings accounts nationwide.
However, Oloworaran stressed that the gains of the reform have been concentrated in the formal sector, warning that widespread old-age poverty among informal workers poses serious social and economic risks.
She described extending pension coverage to the informal sector as the next critical phase of pension reform.
To bridge the gap, she said PenCom has introduced regulations establishing accredited pension agents and rebranded the micro-pension plan as the Personal Pension Plan to encourage wider participation.
The agents, she explained, would operate within communities and workplaces to drive pension inclusion.
She added that technology would play a central role, allowing informal workers to make small and flexible contributions through digital platforms, with real-time access to their accounts.
Oloworaran noted that pension contributions are tax-deductible and said partnerships with payment service banks, telecommunications firms and fintech companies would support broader participation.
Describing Awabah’s accreditation as a milestone, she said it marked the beginning of a new phase in pension distribution and would also create employment opportunities, with thousands of agents expected to be trained and deployed nationwide.
Speaking at the event, Awabah’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tunji Andrews, said the company was founded to address the lack of financial protection among informal workers.
He said the firm’s accredited agent network would support pension inclusion across the country.
According to Andrews, Awabah’s pension offering combines retirement savings with insurance coverage, noting that for as little as ₦3,000 monthly, workers can access personal pensions bundled with health, accident and life insurance. Nigeria’s pension system has largely secured formal sector workers since 2004, but over 90 per cent of the workforce operating in the informal sector remains outside the pension net.
