Tinubu approves major pension reforms for DBS retirees

President Bola Tinubu has approved a fresh package of welfare measures for pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), marking what officials describe as a major milestone in Nigeria’s pension reform efforts.

In a statement on Saturday, Head of Corporate Communications at the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Olugbenga Ajayi, said the approvals align with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda and reflect a strong commitment to improving senior citizens’ welfare.

According to PTAD, the key measures include:

Immediate implementation of extra budgetary allocations to enforce new pension rates for DBS pensioners.

Adoption of a pension harmonisation policy to be incorporated into the 2026 pension budget.

Health insurance coverage for all DBS pensioners through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Inclusion of unpaid liabilities owed to NITEL/MTEL retirees and other defunct parastatals in the 2026 budget proposal.

The reforms also introduce a new pension rate of ₦32,000, with incremental increases of 10.66% and 12.95% for pensioners from defunct and privatised agencies.

PTAD Executive Secretary, Tolulope Odunaiya, said the directives followed her formal request to the Presidency for emergency budgetary allocations to implement critical pension reforms.

“This move shows President Tinubu’s strong commitment to senior citizens’ welfare and marks a new era in DBS pension management,” Odunaiya said, describing the development as transformative.

In June, PTAD announced it had disbursed ₦8.6 billion in pension arrears to 148,625 eligible DBS pensioners across various sectors, reflecting the implementation of the ₦32,000 increment approved in 2024.

Ajayi confirmed that these latest approvals build on earlier settlements of arrears from the first pension increment of 20% to 28%, which took effect in January 2024.