Industry regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have commenced discussions on a partnership aimed at enrolling an estimated nine million transport workers into the Personal Pension Plan under Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme.

 

A statement confirming the development, issued by PenCom, Wednesday followed a courtesy visit by the National President of the NURTW, Musiliu Akinsanya, to the Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

According to the statement, the engagement focused on expanding pension coverage among transport workers in the informal sector and exploring financing models that could support the acquisition of modern mass-transit vehicles across the country.

PenCom said the proposed collaboration could significantly deepen pension and financial inclusion among transport workers operating in motor parks, logistics corridors, interstate routes and urban transport networks nationwide.

Speaking during the meeting, Akinsanya said the union’s nationwide reach and large membership base presented a major opportunity to extend pension coverage to workers who had traditionally remained outside the formal pension system.

He noted that the union had proposed a three-pronged partnership framework involving the mass enrolment of transport workers in the Personal Pension Plan, the deployment of an automated daily pension contribution system linked to existing transport revenue-collection platforms and the development of a National Transport Workers Mobility Enhancement Programme.

According to him, the programme is designed to facilitate access to modern vehicles through structured financing arrangements.

“A key component of the proposal is the establishment of a sustainable financing framework that would enable transport operators to acquire buses and other transport infrastructure through support from development finance institutions, commercial banks and other stakeholders,” the statement said.

Under the proposed arrangement, daily collections from transport operators would be channelled through existing union structures to service vehicle financing obligations while simultaneously funding individual Personal Pension Plan accounts.

Akinsanya said the model was expected to improve repayment efficiency, reduce financing risks and promote long-term savings among transport workers.

“The arrangement is expected to improve repayment efficiency, reduce financing risks and encourage a culture of long-term savings among transport workers who have traditionally remained outside the formal pension net,” he said.

Responding, Oloworaran welcomed the proposal and commended the NURTW leadership for seeking sustainable social protection and economic empowerment initiatives for its members.

She described the proposal as “a bold intervention that could significantly advance pension inclusion in the informal sector and contribute to broader economic development goals.”

The PenCom boss reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to working with the union and other stakeholders to develop practical pathways for implementing the initiative.

She stated that broadening pension coverage remained one of PenCom’s key priorities and noted that the proposal aligned with ongoing efforts to strengthen financial inclusion and improve the economic well-being of Nigerians.

She further described the initiative as one of the most ambitious pension inclusion drives targeted at Nigeria’s informal sector in recent years.

“That the successful implementation could significantly expand the country’s pension contributor base, enhance retirement security for millions of transport workers and create a sustainable framework for modernising public transportation nationwide,” she said.

The Personal Pension Plan was introduced by PenCom to provide retirement savings opportunities for self-employed persons and workers in the informal sector who are not covered by the mandatory Contributory Pension Scheme.

The scheme allows contributors to make flexible savings towards retirement while also accessing a portion of their contributions under specified conditions.