The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said pension assets rose by N2.4 trillion in 2024, from N19.53 trillion in January 2024 to N21.92 trillion as of the last quarter of 2024.
The latest figure was revealed in the 2024 report released by the commission.
In the year, about 320,000 workers joined the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
Similarly, as of January 2024, 10.22 million workers from the public and private sectors joined the new pension scheme from inception in 2004 till the first month of last year while an additional 320,000 fresh intake into the pension scheme took the figure to 10.53 million.
Investment income was instrumental to the continuous growth in pension funds, even though some state governments are not paying the monthly pension contributions of their workers as and when due, the report said.
In the same way, the huge increase, according to findings, was attributed to new pension contributions received, interest from fixed-income securities and net realised on equities and mutual fund investments.
Speaking on this, the Director General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran said: “Today, we have over 10.5 million contributors and oversee pension assets over N21.9 trillion as of October. This progress demonstrates the strength of the contributory pension system, but we are not without challenges. Inflation, for instance, continues to erode the purchasing power of pensioners and we are actively seeking innovative solutions to address this issue.”
The pension industry, according to her, continues to face the persistent issue of delay in the payment of accrued rights. She said N44 billion was approved under the 2024 budget appropriation to settle accrued pension rights for retirees from March to September 2023.
Moving forward, she stated: “We are working with the Federal Government to put in place a sustainable solution that ensures retirees receive their benefits promptly and without undue stress.”
