The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has extended the deadline for the ongoing mandatory online verification and enrolment exercise for eligible Federal Government workers to December 31, 2026, following low participation by affected civil servants.

The exercise, which commenced in February 2026 and was initially scheduled to end on July 31, applies to employees of treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies who are entitled to accrued pension rights under the former Defined Benefit Scheme.

PenCom said the extension followed requests from several MDAs seeking additional time for eligible employees to participate in and complete the online enrolment process.

According to the commission, records of 62,320 active employees and retirees had been uploaded to its platform by treasury-funded MDAs as of July 2026, while 31,099 employees had successfully completed the enrolment.

PenCom said the completed enrolments represented only about 21 per cent of the estimated 150,000 active Federal Government employees entitled to accrued pension rights, prompting the decision to extend the exercise.

The commission has consequently urged eligible employees who are yet to begin the verification, as well as those who started but have not completed the process, to take advantage of the extension and conclude their enrolment before the December 31 deadline.

The exercise is aimed at establishing the pension liabilities owed to Federal Government employees who had accumulated benefits under the Defined Benefit Scheme before Nigeria introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2004.

Under Section 15(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, employees who transitioned to the Contributory Pension Scheme are entitled to accrued pension rights representing benefits earned under the previous pension arrangement.

The accrued rights comprise pension and gratuity benefits earned by eligible employees from the date of their first appointment up to June 30, 2004, with the amount payable determined through an actuarial valuation process.

PenCom said completing the verification and enrolment exercise is necessary to properly determine the liabilities and facilitate the settlement of the accrued pension rights of affected workers.

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