By Barth Ikiebe
President Bola Tinubu has launched PenCare health initiative for Nigerian Retirees and the commencement of the Minimum Pension Guarantee, of N52,500 per month, a provision of the pension reform introduced in 2004 but left unimplemented for more than two decades.
Tinubu, who was represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during the launch of the Presidential Pension Security Initiative, describing the development as the fulfilment of a longstanding obligation to Nigerian workers who depend on their retirement savings for survival.
The initiative also featured the introduction of PenCare, a healthcare access programme designed to provide essential medical services free of charge to low-income retirees.
The Minimum Pension Guarantee was first provided for under the Pension Reform Act 2004 and subsequently retained in the Pension Reform Act 2014, which established a fund to support its implementation.
However, despite the statutory provisions, successive administrations failed to activate the guarantee, leaving contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme without the minimum income protection envisaged by the law.
Expressing concern over the prolonged delay, Tinubu said the country had failed to fulfil an important promise to workers who spent their productive years contributing to national development.
“Twenty-two years after, not one naira paid under that guarantee. Not one retiree is given a floor. Not one government that stopped to ask what happens to a pensioner when the hospital bill arrives,” he said.
Declaring the commencement of the scheme, the President described its implementation as a necessary step towards ensuring that retirement does not expose Nigerian workers to financial hardship after years of service.
“A law that is never implemented is not a law. It is a lie with a stamp on it. Today, that lie ends,” Tinubu declared.
He announced: “By the authority vested in me as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I hereby declare the Minimum Pension Guarantee commenced, with effect from today, to be administered by the National Pension Commission under the Pension Reform Act.”
According to him, the initiative is intended to ensure that contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme do not fall below the minimum pension threshold established under the programme.
“From this day, there is a floor beneath the Nigerian retiree. No one who contributed under the Contributory Pension Scheme will be allowed to fall below it.
“Not because this government is generous. Because it is their right. And a serious country pays what it owes,” he said.
Tinubu also urged future administrations to sustain and improve the scheme rather than abandon it, stressing that the protection of retirees should remain a permanent commitment of the Nigerian state.
“To every administration that comes after mine, hear me clearly. This floor is now part of the compact between the Nigerian State and the Nigerian worker. Raise it. Never remove it,” he said.
Beyond guaranteeing minimum retirement income, the President identified access to affordable healthcare as another major challenge confronting elderly Nigerians, noting that medical expenses could quickly consume the savings accumulated during decades of employment.
He observed that many retirees struggle financially not necessarily because of food or accommodation costs but because of the burden of treating illnesses associated with old age.
“Ask any Nigerian what finished their father’s pension. It was not food. It was not rent. It was the hospital. One illness at sixty-eight can swallow forty years of savings and leave the children to carry what remains,” he said.
“A pension that cannot pay for medicine is not a pension. It is a receipt.”
To address this challenge, Tinubu unveiled PenCare, a healthcare initiative to be funded by the pension industry, providing low-income retirees with access to essential medical services without charge.
The President also announced plans to distribute the first PenCare Health Access Cards to pioneer beneficiaries at the event, describing the programme as an important component of the country’s emerging social security framework.
“In a few moments, I will place the first PenCare Health Access Cards into the hands of our pioneer beneficiaries.
“For the first time in our history, the Nigerian retiree holds two things at once. An income that cannot fall below a floor. And a card that opens the door of a hospital,” he said.
Tinubu maintained that combining minimum pension protection with healthcare access would give retirees greater financial security and dignity in their later years.
“That is social security. This country talked about it for sixty years. We stopped talking. We started it. And we started it for the ordinary Nigerian,” he added.
The President challenged previous administrations over their failure to implement the minimum pension guarantee, urging Nigerians to assess political leaders based on their records rather than campaign promises.
He questioned the contributions of former office holders who had occupied positions of authority but failed to implement the pension provisions now being activated.
“Do not listen to what they promise. Promises are free. Look at what they did when they held power. And they did hold power. Some of them were Governors. One of them was Vice President of this country for eight years,” Tinubu stated.
He challenged them to explain what concrete pension protections they provided during their time in office.
“So let them answer three questions. Which retiree did you guarantee? Which pensioner did you insure? Which floor did you build?
“They had the power. They had the workers. They had the law. Where is the record?” he asked.
Tinubu also defended his administration’s economic and pension policies, urging Nigerians to assess its performance through actions already taken.
“Judge me by my record. As Governor of Lagos State, when our local government allocations were withheld, the state did not collapse. It grew.
“And as President? Arrears: paid. Pensions: raised. Credit: opened. A floor: built. A hospital door unlocked. They have promises. We have receipts.
And Nigeria is not going backwards,” he noted.
Addressing serving workers, the President acknowledged their contributions to national development and assured them that the government was committed to protecting their interests beyond their years of active service.
“To every Nigerian worker sweating for this great nation: this country stands on your back. I know it. I see it. I honour it,” he said.
He encouraged young Nigerians to embrace pension contributions early in their careers, explaining that adequate retirement planning would help secure their financial independence in old age.
“To our young people: start early. The pension you begin in your twenties is the dignity you will own in your seventies. And this government has guaranteed the ground beneath it,” Tinubu said.
The President also warned employers in both the public and private sectors against withholding workers’ pension contributions, describing timely remittance as a fundamental responsibility towards employees’ future welfare.
“To employers, public and private, let there be no ambiguity. Remit your workers’ contributions. Every naira you withhold is stolen from someone’s old age. It is not your money. It never was,” he declared.
Tinubu Floats Healthcare Scheme For Retiree; Sets Minimum Pension Guarantee
