PFA recapitalisation deadline still June 2027–PenCom

The National Pension Commission says the recapitalisation of Pension Fund Administrators remains firmly on course, with all operators expected to meet the new capital requirements by June 2027.

Its Director-General, Omolola Oloworaran, during the 2025 PenCom Media Conference on Thursday, in Lagos, dismissed claims that the recapitalisation exercise had been suspended.

The PenCom chief warned that any PFA that failed to meet the stipulated capital threshold by the deadline would have its licence revoked.

“Recapitalisation has not been suspended. We have communicated the requirements to the PFAs, and we expect every operator to be compliant by June 2027. Anyone who is not compliant by then will lose their licence,” Ms Oloworaran said.

According to her, engagements with industry operators indicated broad acceptance of the policy, with many PFAs already taking steps to raise additional capital or explore mergers and acquisitions.

“You may see some mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but what is clear is that the recapitalisation exercise is on track and the industry agrees with us,” Ms Oloworaran said.

She also addressed broader regulatory challenges, noting that improving employer compliance with pension remittances remained a major focus for the commission.

Ms Oloworaran said PenCom had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and was collaborating with labour unions to enforce compliance.

“From a regulatory standpoint, our major challenge is ensuring compliance. We are working with ICPC, labour and the TUC to ensure employers remit pension contributions for their employees,” she said.

The PenCom boss noted that the commission’s enforcement measures were already yielding results, with recoveries from defaulting employers increasing significantly.

Ms Oloworaran, however, acknowledged that some sectors, including parts of the media industry, were yet to fully comply with pension regulations.

On operational issues, Ms Oloworaran said PenCom had streamlined documentation requirements, particularly for public sector workers and participants in the Personal Pension Plan, to ease enrolment and benefit processing.

She also said the commission would ensure that Pension Fund Administrators resumed mandatory awareness and advocacy programmes across the six geopolitical zones. On gratuity payments, Ms Oloworaran said PenCom was working with the Office of the Head of Service to develop a framework for public sector workers.

She reiterated that gratuity payments in the private sector remained at the discretion of employers. She reaffirmed PenCom’s commitment to strengthening regulation, improving compliance and safeguarding the pension rights of Nigerian workers and retirees.

PenCom had earlier disclosed in a circular dated September 26, 2025, that PFAs and pension operators with Assets Under Management of N500 billion and above will be required to maintain a minimum of N20 billion, plus one per cent of the excess above N500 billion.

PFAs with AUM below N500 billion are to maintain a capital base of N20 billion. Special-purpose PFAs such as NPF Pensions Ltd. would require N30 billion, while the Nigerian University Pension Management Company Ltd. would maintain N20 billion.

The minimum capital for new PFA licences was pegged at N20 billion, and the capital requirement for PFCs was raised from N2 billion, set in 2004, to N25 billion plus 0.1 per cent of AUC. New PFC licences will also attract a minimum capital requirement of N25 billion.