Despite sustained efforts by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to promote personal pension savings, a total of 191,240 Personal Pension Plan (PPP) accounts — representing 92.4 per cent of the 206,917 registered accounts — remained unfunded as of the third quarter of 2025.
Figures released by PenCom show that only 15,677 accounts, or 7.6 per cent of the total PPP registrations, were funded during the period under review.
The commission said the data highlights a major challenge for the scheme. While registration numbers continue to rise, the majority of accounts remain dormant, limiting the growth of accumulated pension assets.
PenCom noted that the trend calls for targeted strategies to encourage regular contributions. These include improved participant education, better incentive structures and more efficient remittance processes to guarantee the long-term sustainability of the PPP.
A breakdown of the data also revealed sharp disparities among Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in terms of funded accounts.
AccessARM Pensions, which holds the largest share of PPP accounts at 107,547, recorded only 2,129 funded accounts. This represents just 2 per cent of its total PPP portfolio, indicating a significant number of inactive accounts.
Similarly, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers posted 33,340 unfunded accounts, accounting for about 92 per cent of its total registered accounts.
Other PFAs with high proportions of unfunded accounts include Guarantee Trust Pension Managers at 96 per cent, NLPC Pension Fund Administrator at 95 per cent, and Trustfund Pensions at 94 per cent.
In contrast, a few PFAs recorded stronger contribution activity. Fidelity Pension Managers had 1,667 funded accounts out of 1,887 total accounts, leaving only 12 per cent unfunded. FCMB Pensions and Veritas Glanvills Pension also posted relatively lower unfunded ratios of 69 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
PenCom stressed that the figures underscore the vast untapped potential within Nigeria’s informal sector. The commission called for a broader and more coordinated effort across the pension industry to deepen micro-pension penetration.
It added that strengthening public awareness, expanding agent networks and designing products tailored to informal workers would be critical to achieving national pension inclusion targets and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Personal Pension Plan.
