By David Akinmola
Despite the rapid growth of Nigeria’s pension assets to a record N31.32 trillion, the vast majority of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) opened under the Personal Pension Plan (PPP) remain without contributions, exposing a major gap between pension registration and actual retirement savings.
Data from the National Pension Commission (PenCom) first-quarter 2026 industry report showed that only 18,811 of the 219,316 PPP accounts registered nationwide had received contributions as of March 2026, leaving 200,505 accounts, representing 91.4 per cent, unfunded.
The development highlights one of the biggest challenges confronting efforts to expand pension coverage in Nigeria, getting Nigerians who open retirement accounts to move beyond registration and begin making regular contributions.
Although PPP registration continues to increase, the high number of inactive accounts suggests that the growth in participation has yet to translate into a corresponding expansion in long-term retirement savings among self-employed workers, informal sector operators and other Nigerians outside the mandatory employer-based pension arrangement.
The PPP, introduced to provide pension coverage for self-employed persons and employees of organizations with fewer than three employeer, is regarded as a key instrument for extending the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to the large informal economy.
However, PenCom’s latest figures suggest that the challenge is no longer simply convincing Nigerians to open pension accounts, but ensuring that such accounts remain active and adequately funded.
During the first quarter, PPP contributions stood at N147.16 million, bringing cumulative contribution since inception to N1.66 billion. The amount remains modest when compared with the scale of the wider pension industry, whose assets have continued to expand.
The industry’s total pension assets reached N31.32 trillion in May 2026, representing a N384.98 billion increase from N30.94 trillion in April and a 29.5 per cent rise from N24.18 trillion recorded in May 2025.
The contrasting figures point to a structural imbalance in the pension market. While assets under management continue to rise, largely driven by the formal sector and investment returns, pension coverage among workers outside formal employment remains relatively shallow.
For industry stakeholder, expanding the PP I therefore critical to ensuring that Nigeria’s growing pension pool does not remain concentrated among formally employed workers.
The challenge is particularly significant given the size of Nigeria’s informal economy, where millions of traders, artisans, farmers, transport operators, freelancers and small-business owners earn incomes outside conventional payroll structures.
Industry observers, say the unfunded PPP accounts also raise questions about financial literacy, income irregularity, affordability and confidence in long-term savings.
For many self-employed Nigerians, irregular income makes fixed monthly pension contributions difficult, while others may lack sufficient understanding of how pension savings work or may prioritise immediate household needs over retirement planning.
The issue is coming at a time when PenCom is reviewing the country’s pension framework to strengthen contribution levels and widen the role of pension funds in economic development.
The commission disclosed in July that it wa considering an increase in the statutory penion contribution rate as part of the ongoing review of the pension reform Act (PRA) 2014.
Under the existing framework, employers contribute a minimum if 10 per cent of an employee’s monthly emoluments, while employees contribute eight per cent, bringing the mandatory contribution rate to 18 per cent.
Any increase in the statutory rate, however, would primarily affect contributors already within the formal CPS unless accompanied by measures capable of bringing more informal-sector worker into the pension system.
This makes the PPP’s performance increasingly important to the commission’s broader objective of achieving wider pension inclusion.
The first-quarter figures showed that 143,248 new RSAs were registered across the CPS, representing 24.7 per cent increase from the 114.864 accounts registered in the preceding quarter.
The increase suggests that interest in pension participation remains strong. Yet, the PPP figure show that registration alone cannot guarantee retirement security.
