FG Begins Payment of N32,000 Pension Increment to 832,000 Retirees – PTAD

The Federal Government has commenced the payment of a N32,000 pension increment to retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), according to the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD).

The report, which was obtained from PUNCH, confirmed that the increment will reflect in the September 2025 payroll cycle, benefitting about 832,000 pensioners.

In a statement signed by Management and posted on its X handle, PTAD explained that the package includes the fixed N32,000 increment alongside percentage increases of 10.66% and 12.95% for different categories of pensioners.

PTAD recalled that in August, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a series of welfare measures for pensioners, following a request by PTAD’s Executive Secretary, Tolulope Odunaiya, who sought an emergency budgetary allocation to implement pension reforms.

The measures include:

A fixed N32,000 pension increment

Percentage increases for pensioners of defunct and privatised agencies

Pension harmonisation for all DBS retirees

Enrolment into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)

Settlement of long-standing unfunded pension liabilities

According to PTAD, the partial release of ₦820.188 billion by the Ministry of Finance from the ₦845 billion emergency fund made the implementation possible.

The statement read:

“Further to the President’s approval of the emergency budgetary allocation for the payment of the new pension increment rates for Pensioners under the Defined Benefit Pension Scheme (DBS) that was earlier published by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate on Friday, 8th August, 2025, the Directorate is delighted to announce the commencement of the implementation of the 832,000, 10.66% and 12.95% pension increment for eligible pensioners under the management of PTAD, in the September 2025 pension payroll cycle.

This achievement has been made possible through the partial release of ₦820.188 billion by the Federal Ministry of Finance, from the initial ₦845 billion emergency funding approval granted by the Federal Government.
This milestone clearly reaffirms the Federal Government’s dedication to safeguarding the welfare and entitlements of DBS Pensioners in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

The Directorate expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, and other key stakeholders for their timely support.

It also thanked pension groups such as the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) and the Federal Parastatals and Private Sector Pensioners Association of Nigeria (FEPPPAN) for their cooperation during negotiations.

The DBS covers retirees who left service before the Contributory Pension Scheme of 2004, including pensioners from defunct public institutions, privatised agencies, and treasury-funded parastatals. Many of these retirees have suffered from irregular payments, delayed harmonisation, and lack of healthcare access challenges the new reforms aim to resolve.