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Unpaid Pensions Could Cost Nigerian Employers Their Next Contract
Unpaid Pensions Could Cost Nigerian Employers Their Next Contract
PenCom says its clearance system now automatically calculates penalties for late pension remittances.
Employers must settle outstanding penalties before obtaining pension clearance.
Existing rules require pension operators’ vendors to present valid clearance certificates.
Workers should check their pension statements against deductions on their payslips.
October 14, () – An employer seeking new business could find an unpaid pension bill standing in the way. PenCom says its automated clearance system calculates penalties for delayed contributions and prevents employers from obtaining a Pension Clearance Certificate until those penalties are settled.
Director-General Omolola Oloworaran announced the measure at the commission’s annual media conference in Abuja on October 13. The change connects enforcement to a document businesses may need when bidding for contracts or supplying the pension industry.
For employees, the concern starts earlier. Money deducted from a salary is unavailable for household spending, yet it cannot earn investment returns in a Retirement Savings Account until it reaches the account.
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Where Pension Debt Meets Business Revenue
PenCom already requires licensed pension operators to obtain valid clearance certificates from their vendors and service providers before entering service or technical agreements.
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Its May 2025 circular also extends compliance requirements to companies and financial institutions receiving pension investments, including requirements concerning their own vendors. The circular allowed six months for implementation.
Consequently, pension compliance can affect businesses beyond fund administrators themselves. A supplier seeking work from a pension operator may need clearance even though its own business has nothing to do with managing retirement savings.
Automating the penalty calculation could make it harder to obtain that clearance while leaving the cost of late payments unresolved. However, the announcement does not establish how many applications the system has blocked or how much additional money it has recovered.
Late Payment Already Carries a Cost
The obligation to remit promptly predates the new system. PenCom’s circular restates the requirement to remit pension contributions within seven working days after salary payment. Employers therefore need to account for the remittance deadline alongside payroll, rather than treat pension transfers as an expense that can wait indefinitely.
At the conference, Oloworaran said cumulative recoveries from defaulting employers had reached ₦36.6 billion by July 2026. That is a cumulative figure, not an amount recovered through the newly announced automation.
“We will find what is owed, we will recover it, and we will hold those responsible to account,” she said.
Check the Account Behind the Deduction
Workers can begin with a month-by-month comparison of payslips and pension statements. Where contributions are missing, asking payroll for payment evidence and the Pension Fund Administrator for a reconciliation can help establish what happened.
A missing credit does not automatically prove that an employer withheld the money. PenCom has previously identified payments that could not be credited because of missing schedules, identification details and other processing problems.
For unresolved discrepancies, PenCom lists [email protected] as its complaints address. A useful complaint should identify the employer, the affected months, the deductions shown and the responses already received. Keep copies of those records, then check that any recovered contribution appears in the pension account.
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