President Bola Tinubu has challenged his political opponents to demonstrate what they achieved while in public office rather than make fresh electoral promises, as his administration launched a ₦52,500 national minimum monthly pension guarantee and free healthcare coverage for vulnerable retirees.
The President also disclosed that his administration had issued a ₦458 billion bond to settle outstanding pension arrears, declaring an end to a 22-year delay in implementing the statutory minimum pension guarantee established under the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the Presidential Pension Security Initiative and National Minimum Pension Guarantee Programme at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, Tinubu urged Nigerians to judge his three-and-a-half-year-old administration by its record of policy decisions and achievements.
Represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu took aim at former public officeholders seeking the presidency in 2027, questioning their records on pension protection and social welfare.
“Now let us talk about the people who want this job. Do not listen to what they promise. Promises are free. Look at what they did when they were in power in the past,” he said.
“Some of them were even governors, and one of them was the Vice President of this country for eight years. So let them answer three questions: Which retiree did you guarantee? Which pensioner did you insure? And which floor did you erect for them to stand on? Where is the record?”
The President maintained that his administration had taken difficult but necessary decisions to address longstanding economic challenges, citing the removal of petrol subsidy, unification of foreign exchange rates, infrastructure investment, education financing, tax reforms and expanded access to credit.
He defended his decision to remove petrol subsidy upon assuming office on May 29, 2023, arguing that the policy was necessary to address structural problems in the economy despite its immediate impact on Nigerians.
“On the 29th day of May, 2023, I said three words that no president before me had dared to say: ‘Subsidy is gone.’ They said those three words would finish me. I said them anyway, because a leader who is afraid of the truth has no business asking for your mandate,” Tinubu stated.
“We unified the exchange rates. We shut down a fraud dressed up as a favour to the poor. We chose to carry the pain ourselves rather than send the bills to our children and future generations, and then we sat down to think and commence the business of rebuilding Nigeria.”
He also cited the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), reforms in taxation and the expansion of consumer and business credit facilities as interventions intended to improve access to education and stimulate economic activities.
Tinubu maintained that increased revenues available to state governments following his administration’s economic reforms had strengthened their capacity to invest in infrastructure, education and healthcare while addressing outstanding pension liabilities.
Turning to pension administration, the President declared the immediate commencement of the National Minimum Pension Guarantee Programme, which will raise the monthly retirement benefits of more than 170,000 eligible pensioners to at least ₦52,500.
He described the initiative as the fulfilment of a statutory obligation that had remained unimplemented for 22 years despite successive administrations.
According to him, Section 71 of the Pension Reform Act of 2004 established the legal foundation for a guaranteed minimum pension, while Sections 82 and 84 of the 2014 amendment reinforced the provision and provided a funding framework.
Tinubu expressed disappointment that four previous administrations had failed to activate the guarantee, leaving thousands of retirees without the minimum income protection envisaged by the law.
“Not one naira paid under that guarantee. Not one retiree given a floor. Not one government that stopped to ask what happens to those pensioners when their hospital bills arrive at home,” he said.
Formally declaring the programme operational, the President stated: “By the authority vested in me as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I hereby declare the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme commenced with effect from today, to be administered by the National Pension Commission under the Pension Reform Act.”
He said the government was determined to ensure that Nigerians who had devoted their productive years to national development were not condemned to poverty or denied essential medical treatment in retirement.
The President also announced the launch of PenCare, a healthcare initiative designed to provide free health insurance coverage for low-income retirees.
He said the programme would help protect pensioners from medical expenses that could otherwise consume a substantial portion of their retirement income.
On outstanding pension obligations, Tinubu disclosed that his administration had issued a ₦458 billion bond to address accumulated arrears, insisting that the government had moved beyond commitments to actual payments.
“We issued a bond of ₦458 billion and we paid them. I said we did not promise, we paid them,” he declared.
“On pension reforms and fulfilled promises, again, we did not promise; we paid them, that is the record.”
The President also highlighted the approval of a ₦32,000 monthly consequential pension adjustment for affected federal retirees, explaining that the measure had improved benefits for pensioners previously receiving amounts below the national minimum wage.
He cited improvements in payments to former Nigeria Airways workers, saying some retirees who previously received as little as ₦80,000 monthly now collected up to ₦206,000.
Tinubu further pointed to pension enhancements under the Contributory Pension Scheme, describing the interventions as part of his administration’s efforts to strengthen retirement security.
Also speaking at the event, Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, confirmed that the national minimum monthly pension had been fixed at ₦52,500, with 173,209 retirees identified as eligible beneficiaries.
She explained that the programme was backed by a Pension Protection Fund exceeding ₦400 billion and represented the implementation of a guarantee first provided for under the Pension Reform Act of 2004.
According to Oloworaran, 34 per cent of the identified beneficiaries retired from the federal public service, 12 per cent from state governments and 54 per cent from the private sector.
She said the distribution demonstrated the programme’s reach across different sectors, particularly among retirees receiving relatively low monthly pensions.
On inherited pension liabilities, the PenCom director-general disclosed that the Tinubu administration met outstanding obligations exceeding ₦2 trillion and had so far facilitated the settlement of ₦1.07 trillion.
She further revealed that 13 states had either cleared their inherited pension obligations, recorded no legacy liabilities or settled at least 80 per cent of outstanding arrears.
Oloworaran attributed the progress to economic and fiscal reforms which, according to her, had improved the capacity of governments to meet retirement obligations.
Providing details of the PenCare healthcare initiative, she disclosed that the pension industry had committed more than ₦7 billion to the programme, with health insurance premiums already paid for nearly 30,000 low-income retirees.
She explained that the initiative was intended to reduce the financial burden of medical treatment on vulnerable pensioners and ensure that their retirement benefits were not exhausted by healthcare costs.
The PenCom chief maintained that the minimum pension guarantee and healthcare programme represented important steps towards improving the welfare of retirees and strengthening Nigeria’s pension protection framework.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to sustaining economic reforms and expanding social protection, insisting that Nigerians should assess political leadership through measurable achievements rather than campaign promises.
Deji Elumoye
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