The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has expressed serious concern over the insufficient allocation for pension arrears in Nigeria’s 2025 national budget, recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
According to a statement from PTAD’s Head of Corporate Communications, Olugbenga Ajayi, the Executive Secretary, Ms. Tolulope Odunaiya, raised the alarm during a courtesy visit to the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, in Abuja.
Odunaiya highlighted that despite the 2025 budget’s increase to N54.99 trillion, it fails to adequately cover the accumulated pension liabilities. She warned this shortfall threatens the welfare of retired civil servants who depend entirely on their pensions for survival. “During the meeting, Odunaiya emphasised the importance of strengthening collaboration between PTAD and the Budget Office to ensure the timely and efficient resolution of pension-related issues,” the statement said.
She proposed the immediate establishment of a joint committee to tackle the pension arrears challenge. Yakubu accepted the proposal and formally constituted the committee, which includes officials from both PTAD and the Budget Office. Their mandate is to develop actionable solutions to ensure pension obligations are met without delay.
The 2025 budget, the largest in Nigeria’s history, was raised from an initial proposal of N49.7 trillion to N54.99 trillion. It allocates N13.64 trillion for recurrent expenditure, N23.96 trillion for capital projects, N14.32 trillion for debt servicing, and N3.65 trillion for statutory transfers, projecting a deficit of N13.08 trillion to be financed through borrowing. The budget assumptions include a crude oil benchmark of $75 per barrel and oil production of 2.06 million barrels per day.
Earlier, the Federal Executive Council approved the issuance of a N758 billion bond to clear outstanding pension liabilities, including accrued rights and pension increases. Finance Minister Wale Edun explained that the Debt Management Office would raise the funds to settle the pension arrears backlog. The National Pension Commission noted that this bond would benefit university professors, low-income earners, and other pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
This development comes amid PTAD’s ongoing efforts to clear pension arrears, having disbursed over N1.18 billion between 2020 and 2024 to various retired federal workers, including university staff and former civil servants. PTAD has also committed to implementing a recently approved N32,000 pension increment for retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme once the 2025 budget provisions are released, assuring pensioners of timely payments.
