The Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, has declared in a new era of zero tolerance for pension defaults.
She has engaged accredited recovery agents to serve as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s social contract with its workers.
Represented by the Commissioner Inspectorate of the Commission, Hon. Samuel Chigozie Uwandu, Ms. Oloworaran stated this during an intensive Training Workshop for accredited Recovery Agents held in Lagos on 2 December 2025.
The training marked a renewed nationwide compliance push to recover outstanding pension contributions and penalties from employers who persistently violate the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, which mandates remittance of pension contributions within seven working days of salary payment.
The workshop, attended by enforcement officers, resource persons and pension industry stakeholders, outlined new strategic initiatives that will strengthen enforcement efforts, deepen inter-agency collaboration, and empower recovery agents to tackle non-remittance of pension contributions with greater precision and authority.
The Director General reaffirmed PenCom’s commitment to enforcing strict compliance across the pension industry.
According to her, PenCom currently engages Recovery Agents to audit defaulting employers, calculate outstanding pension liabilities, issue demand notices, and facilitate recovery of unremitted pension contributions. Recovery Agents’ work has been instrumental in enforcing compliance since the start of the recovery exercise in 2012.
PenCom data, she said, shows that the Commission has cumulatively recovered ₦32.27 billion, comprising ₦15.87 billion in principal contributions and ₦16.40 billion in penalties from defaulting employers between June 2012 and September 2025.
She also hinted that PenCom recorded significant compliance gains in the third quarter of 2025 alone, recovering ₦2.06 billion (₦775 million principal and ₦1.27 billion penalties) from 49 defaulting employers, reflecting a sustained surge in enforcement activities.
She told the workshop participants that despite the successes of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), persistent defaults by employers threaten the fundamental purpose of the system.
She added:“Every unremitted Naira represents a broken promise to a Nigerian worker,” she said. “This Commission has moved from promoting voluntary compliance to mandating enforced compliance. The era of impunity is over.”
She recalled that the appointment of Recovery Agents followed a competitive, transparent selection process, reflecting PenCom’s confidence in their capacity, professionalism, and integrity. She reminded participants that they are the “operational arm of PenCom’s enforcement will” and are critical to PenCom’s strategy to safeguard workers’ retirement savings.
She outlined several bold initiatives forming PenCom’s expanded enforcement architecture, including forming stronger partnerships with key regulatory bodies such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other relevant agencies.
She explained that under these partnerships, employers’ compliance with the PRA 2014 will influence their standing with these bodies.
She noted that defaulting employers will face consequences beyond PenCom, as non-compliance may affect business operations, access to government services, and regulatory privileges.
PenCom DG also drew the attention of participants to the newly executed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which empowers ICPC to hold the management of recalcitrant employers personally accountable, making pension defaults a matter with potential criminal implications.
She said:“This MoU is a decisive step to give teeth to our recovery efforts,” the DG stated. “No employer should imagine that withholding workers’ pensions is without consequences.”
The training modules delivered at the workshop were designed to deepen RAs’ skills in employer audit and compliance assessment; liability computation and negotiation; documentation and evidence management; engagement protocols under PenCom’s new enforcement architecture and use of enhanced digital compliance tools and reporting systems.
She charged the recovery agents to discharge their duties with excellence.
She added:“You are the ambassadors of this new resolve, an Act with unwavering ethical standards, exercise professional care, and be relentless in securing what is rightfully due to the Nigerian worker.”