The director-general of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, says the personal pension plan is a critical pillar for building Nigeria’s long-term economic resilience.

Ms Oloworaran said this during the inauguration of ‘8Awabah’, the first accredited pension agent in Abuja on Monday.

She said that many workers in the informal sector currently lacked retirement security.

Ms Oloworaran said that financial resilience was not built at retirement but through early savings, planning, trust and access.

She said that Nigeria stood at a similar crossroads in 2004, when the Pension Reform Act (PRA) transformed the country’s retirement landscape.

“Before 2004, pensions were promises without funding, retirees suffered indignity, and old age became synonymous with anxiety,” said Ms Oloworaran. “That reform replaced uncertainty with structure and discipline.”

Ms Oloworaran said that pension assets had grown to over N27 trillion, with more than 10 million contributors, placing Nigeria among countries with the strongest pension systems in Africa and globally.

Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, she said the reform’s gains largely benefitted formal-sector workers, leaving a significant gap.

Ms Oloworaran said that over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce operated in the informal sector.

According to her, the figure represents more than 75 million artisans, traders, farmers, transport operators and small business owners who currently retire without savings or social protection.

“This gap is not only a social challenge. It is a national vulnerability. A country can not be strong when millions grow old in poverty,” she said.

Ms Oloworaran said that PPP was a vital economic infrastructure. She said that rather than charity, they mobilise domestic capital, protect families, support growth and strengthen economic stability.

“To address the gap, in September 2025, we introduced regulations establishing accredited agents and rebranded the Micro Pension Plan as the PPP to broaden its appeal nationwide. The accredited pension agents will serve as the bridge between the pension system and the informal economy by taking pension services directly to markets, farms, workshops and rural communities.

”The technology will be central to achieving scale, enabling digital onboarding, micro-contributions, real-time account access and low-cost service delivery,” Ms Oloworaran said.

She also said that pension contributions were tax-deductible, encouraging Nigerians to save for retirement while retaining more of their income.

(NAN)