The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has directed all Licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to immediately categorise contributions under the Personal Pension Plan (PPP), warning that failure to comply will attract regulatory sanctions.
It made this known in a circular dated February 24 and signed by the Commission’s Director of the Surveillance Department, A. M. Saleem.
The regulator said the directive was issued pursuant to the Guidelines on the Personal Pension Plan, particularly Sections 2.1 and 2.3, which provide that “existing Voluntary Contributions under the Contributory Pension Scheme shall form part of the PPP, and that contributors may make additional pension contributions either directly or through their employers.”
Invoking its regulatory powers, PenCom directed PFAs to distinctly classify all PPP contributions into two categories.
Self-Contributions – contributions made directly by contributors in their personal capacity,” and “Employer-Remitted Contributions – contributions remitted by an employer on behalf of an employee, pursuant to written authorisation issued by the employee.
The Commission mandated that this categorisation must be clearly reflected in “all periodic returns, reports, and data submissions rendered to the Commission,” as well as in “Statements of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) and any other contribution statements issued to contributors.”
PenCom further instructed PFAs to maintain “accurate, verifiable, and auditable records sufficient to identify the source, nature, and mode of remittance of all contributions under the PPP,” signalling tighter scrutiny of contribution flows and documentation standards across the industry.
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The administrators were also ordered to “update their internal systems, operational processes, and reporting templates as may be required to give full effect to this directive,” indicating that system-level adjustments may be necessary to ensure compliance.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, the Commission stated that the circular “is issued to enhance transparency, data integrity, regulatory oversight, and clarity in the treatment of contributions under the PPP.”
PenCom warned that “non-compliance with the provisions of this directive shall attract appropriate regulatory sanctions in accordance with the Commission’s Regime of Sanctions.”
The Commission directed that all enquiries regarding the circular be addressed to the Head of its Micro Pensions Department, underscoring that implementation is expected without delay.
Pension assets hit ₦27.45tn
Pinnacle Daily reports that Nigeria’s pension assets, overseen by the PenCom, rose to ₦27.45 trillion as of December 31, 2025, from ₦27.05 trillion in the previous period.
According to PenCom’s latest data, Federal Government securities remained the dominant investment, accounting for ₦16.33 trillion, or 59.5 per cent of total assets.
The bulk of this was held in Federal Government Bonds (HTM) valued at ₦12.83 trillion, while Treasury Bills stood at ₦761.09 billion.
Domestic Ordinary Shares ranked as the second-largest asset class at ₦3.96 trillion, while Money Market Instruments amounted to ₦2.62 trillion, largely invested in fixed deposits and bank acceptances.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
