By TAIYE OLAYEMI

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has warned defaulting employers, including media organisations, to comply fully with pension remittance obligations or face stronger regulatory sanctions.

The Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, issued the warning on Thursday in Lagos while addressing newsmen at the 2025 PenCom Media Conference.

Oloworaran stated that while the commission had stepped up efforts to engage defaulting employers, progress remains slow due to systemic delays.

She said engagement would remain the first line of action, but emphasised that tougher measures would follow where compliance failed.

“We have started engagement and I am hoping that by next year we will begin to see positive results.

“Non-remittance of pensions should frankly be a criminal offence, and we are looking at how to reflect that in the new Pension Reform Act,” she said.

Oloworaran said the commission was working on proposals to ensure police retirement benefits were comparable to those of the military.

She expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved within the next year.

Oloworaran said that the commission would no longer wait years to review regulations, noting that parts of the new investment rules were already being reviewed based on feedback.

She also announced plans for direct engagement with Nigerians from the first quarter of 2026, including periodic media sessions to address public complaints.

Oloworaran said PenCom was developing a customer relationship management system that would allow retirees to log complaints against Pension Fund Administrators, with the commission having full oversight.

She said the system, expected to be rolled out fully in 2026, would improve service delivery and accountability across the pension industry.

Oloworaran reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to transparency, noting that PenCom remained accessible through its consumer protection phone lines and email channels.

On plans ahead, Oloworaran said, “For 2026, we plan to continue building trust in the system, improving investment outomes, ensuring that Pension Fund Administrators are working toward the path to deliver inflation plus returns to retirees and RSA contributors.

“Most importantly, we will continue to defend the rights of every retiree and RSA contributors. We will continue to build reforms around that.”

Also, Mrs Anthonia Ifeanyi-Okoro, Acting Managing Director of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), said recent reforms had strengthened the foundation of Nigeria’s pension industry.

Okoro noted that the engagement provided an opportunity to review progress and outline the industry’s future direction.

She said the Pension Boost 1.0 initiative marked a turning point in resolving long-standing challenges associated with accrued pension rights, easing bottlenecks, restoring confidence and ensuring thousands of retirees receive long-outstanding benefits.

Okoro said that the transition to Pension Revolution 2.0 was getting a boost from the N758 billion in Federal Government bonds to cover accrued rights, showing the government’s commitment to pension sustainability.(NAN)