The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has raised alarm over the poor growth of pensions and widening disparities in retirement benefits within the nation’s oil and gas industry.
According to the union, many retirees under the Closed Pension Fund Administrations (CPFAs) have remained trapped in a system that fails to reflect current economic conditions, leaving their pensions stagnant despite persistent inflation and the weakening naira.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, spoke at a one-day summit organised by the union in Abuja on Thursday. He attributed the problem to policy gaps in Nigeria’s pension framework and inconsistent adjustments by oil companies operating CPFAs.
Osifo explained that while the 2004 Pension Reform Act introduced the contributory pension scheme, it allowed some oil and gas firms to continue with the defined benefits model under CPFAs. The 2014 amendment to the Act, however, stopped new employees from joining the defined benefits system, pushing them into the contributory scheme.
He noted that although a few companies have established mechanisms for regular pension reviews, most rely solely on management discretion. As a result, retirees are forced to cope with fixed benefits that continually lose value amid economic pressures.
PENGASSAN emphasised the need for urgent reforms, warning that the growing imbalance in pension adjustments threatens the welfare of retirees who spent decades in service to the sector.
