PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Tuesday challenged Nigerians to assess his administration on the basis of his records and performance, rather than political promises.
The President, who gave the charge at the official launch of the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme, at the Old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, declared that his government has ended a 22-year delay in implementing the scheme.
Represented by President of the Senate, Dr. Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu said his administration had moved beyond rhetoric to establish a statutory safety net for Nigerian workers, ensuring that contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) would not fall below a guaranteed minimum income in retirement.
At the ceremony, the President also unveiled PensionCare, a pension industry-funded healthcare initiative designed to provide low-income retirees with access to essential medical services without charge.
He described the twin initiatives as major milestones in the country’s social protection system, insisting that workers who had spent decades serving the nation deserved financial security and access to healthcare after retirement.
President Tinubu said: “Please judge me by my record in this election.”
He challenged his political opponents to explain what they did to guarantee minimum pensions, provide healthcare protection and improve the welfare of retirees when they occupied positions of authority.
President Tinubu said the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme, which takes effect immediately, would be administered by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in accordance with the Pension Reform Act.
He lamented that although the guarantee was provided for under Section 71 of the Pension Reform Act 2004 and reinforced by Sections 82 and 84 of the 2014 Act, successive administrations had failed to implement it for more than two decades.
According to him: “Not one naira paid under that guarantee. Not one retiree given a floor. Not one government that stopped to ask what happens to those pensioners when their hospital bills arrive at their homes.
”A law that is never implemented is not a law. It is a lie with a stamp on it. Today, I dare say that lie ends here.”
The President assured contributors that the new arrangement would provide a minimum income threshold below which eligible retirees would not be allowed to fall.
”From this day, there is a floor beneath the Nigerian retiree. No one who contributed under the Contributory Pension Scheme will ever be allowed to fall below, not because this government is generous, but because it is your right,” he declared.
He also called on future administrations to sustain the policy, describing the guarantee as a binding social contract between the Nigerian state and its workers.
On the healthcare component, President Tinubu said PensionCare was designed to address one of the greatest challenges confronting retirees, particularly the burden of medical expenses in old age.
He explained that the initiative would provide low-income pensioners with essential healthcare services without charge, adding that the first cards would be distributed to beneficiaries in the coming months.
”A pension is more than a payslip. Ask any Nigerian what finished their father’s pension. It was not food. It was not rent. It was the hospital bill.
”One illness at 68 years can swallow 40 years of savings and leave the children to carry the burden of what remains thereafter. A pension that I cannot use to pay for medicine is not a pension; it is a receipt,” he said.
Tinubu said his administration had also taken decisive steps to settle outstanding pension obligations, disclosing that the Federal Government issued a N758 billion bond to clear long-standing arrears.
He further said the government approved a consequential adjustment of N32,000 monthly for federal pensioners whose earnings were below the national minimum wage, bringing their pensions to that level or above.
The President disclosed that legacy pensioners under the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, who previously received as little as N18,000 monthly, now collect N206,000.
He added that pension enhancements had also been delivered under the Contributory Pension Scheme, describing the development as unprecedented in the country’s history.
Recalling the hardship experienced by pensioners under previous arrangements, President Tinubu condemned the practice of compelling elderly retirees to queue under harsh weather conditions to establish that they were still alive before receiving their entitlements.
He said some pensioners died while waiting for their benefits, describing the situation as an unacceptable treatment of citizens who had devoted 30 to 40 years of their lives to national service.
”Nigeria was not built by oil. Nigeria was built by workers. Every road, every classroom, every hospital ward in this country was built by somebody and maintained by somebody.
”What did we do with them when their strength was spent after 30, 35 or 40 years of serving their country? We sent them to stand in the sun in order to prove that they were still alive. Some of them died in those fields,” he said.
The President linked the pension interventions to his administration’s broader economic reforms, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of foreign exchange rates.
He maintained that the difficult decisions were necessary to restore economic stability and redirect public resources towards productive investments and social development.
According to him, funds previously expended on petrol subsidy had been redirected to the states, strengthening their capacity to invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare and the settlement of outstanding pension liabilities.
Citing a World Bank report published in October 2026, Tinubu said state revenues increased by approximately 93 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, while the share of state budgets devoted to capital projects rose from 46 per cent to 61 per cent.
He commended governors across the federation, irrespective of political affiliation, for translating increased revenues into development projects and improved welfare for citizens, including retired workers.
The President also highlighted other interventions introduced by his administration, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the National Credit Guarantee Company and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP).
He said the initiatives were designed to expand access to education and affordable credit, particularly for young people, women, small business operators and Nigerians previously excluded from formal financial services.
On the political implications of the economic reforms, President Tinubu criticised opposition calls for the restoration of petrol subsidy, warning that reversing the policy would deprive states of additional revenues and undermine ongoing infrastructure and pension interventions.
He challenged political opponents who had previously occupied public offices to present their records on pension protection and workers’ welfare.
”They had the power. They had the workers. They had the laws. Where is their record of performance?” he asked.
Tinubu urged Nigerian employers in both the public and private sectors to remit workers’ pension contributions promptly, warning that withholding such funds amounted to depriving employees of their financial security in old age.
”Every naira you withhold is stolen from somebody’s old age. It is not your money; it never will be,” he warned.
He also encouraged young workers to enrol in pension schemes early, stressing that regular contributions during their productive years would guarantee dignity and financial independence in retirement.
The President assured Nigerian workers that the government recognised their sacrifices and would continue to strengthen policies that protect their interests after years of service.
He said the new pension guarantee and healthcare initiative marked a departure from decades of unfulfilled promises, adding that the ultimate objective was to ensure that no Nigerian worker was abandoned after retirement.
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