About 91.4% of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) registered under Nigeria’s Personal Pension Plan (PPP) remained unfunded at the end of the first quarter of 2026, according to data from the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
PenCom’s first-quarter 2026 pension industry report showed that 219,316 PPP Retirement Savings Accounts had been registered. However, only 18,811 accounts, representing 8.58% of the total, had received contributions.
This means that 200,505 registered accounts had no contributions as of the end of the quarter, highlighting a significant gap between pension account registration and active retirement savings.
Despite the large number of unfunded accounts, contributions under the Personal Pension Plan continued to increase. PPP contributions reached N147.16 million during the first quarter of 2026, bringing cumulative contributions since the scheme began to N1.66 billion.
The figures suggest that while more Nigerians are registering for the voluntary pension scheme, converting those registrations into regularly funded retirement savings accounts remains a major challenge.
PenCom’s data also showed that a total of N11.12 million was withdrawn contingently during the quarter by 15 Personal Pension Contributors through four Pension Fund Administrators.
Cumulative contingent withdrawals stood at N124.30 million, involving 346 Personal Pension Contributors.
AccessARM accounted for 33.64% of new PPP RSA registrations during the first quarter of 2026. Its cumulative market share stood at 52.4% of all Personal Pension Plan Retirement Savings Accounts.
The latest figures come as PenCom reviews Nigeria’s pension framework to strengthen pension contributions and expand the role of pension assets in supporting the economy.
In July, the commission disclosed plans to increase statutory pension contribution rates as part of its ongoing review of the Pension Reform Act 2014.
Under the current pension framework, employers are required to contribute a minimum of 10% of an employee’s monthly emoluments, while employees contribute 8%. This brings the mandatory pension contribution rate to 18%.
PenCom has indicated that the contribution rate could be increased under the proposed reforms. The commission is also developing plans for a new investment vehicle that could channel part of Nigeria’s pension assets into critical infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, the wider pension industry continues to record growth. The number of new Retirement Savings Accounts registered under Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme rose by 24.7% to 143,248 in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 114,864 recorded in the previous quarter.
Nigeria’s total pension assets also reached a record N31.32 trillion in May 2026, according to PenCom’s unaudited industry report.
The figure represented a 1.23% increase from N30.94 trillion recorded in April, with pension assets rising by approximately N384.98 billion within one month.
On a year-on-year basis, total pension assets increased by 29.5% from N24.18 trillion recorded in May 2025.
While Nigeria’s pension industry continues to expand and pension assets reach new record levels, the latest PPP data shows that encouraging registered account holders to make regular contributions remains a major challenge for the sector.
