Pension chiefs: N31.8tn savings must buy retirees real dignity, not just paper growth
- Parthian Pensions says Nigeria's pension assets have passed N31.80 trillion but inflation is eroding their real value.
- Its executives want the industry to widen coverage to informal workers and focus on retirement income, not just account balances.
- Speakers at a Lagos forum said digital tools could help traders, farmers and freelancers save consistently.
Nigeria's pension industry now holds more than N31.80 trillion in retirement savings, but industry leaders say the real question is whether that money can still buy a retiree a decent life.
That was the message at the Parthian Pensions Stakeholders' Forum 2026, held in Lagos, where pension administrators and regulators gathered under the theme "Driving Pension Innovation in a Digital Age."
Parthian Pensions Limited said the sector must move past simply growing assets and opening Retirement Savings Accounts. The next task, it argued, is protecting what workers' savings can actually buy and bringing in the millions of Nigerians who have no pension at all.
Why it matters to ordinary workers
For most Nigerians, a pension balance is decades of salary set aside. Rising inflation and a weaker naira mean that balance can grow on paper while buying less food, fuel and rent by the time the worker retires.
"A pension balance may increase on paper while its real value declines because of inflation," said Olawunmi Abiodun, executive director of operations and governance at Parthian Financial Services Limited.
Abiodun said administrators are handling money people earned over a lifetime of work, and that the aim of retirement should be independence rather than leaning on children. "The goal of retirement should not be to depend on our children for sustenance," she said.
Olufemi Odukoya, managing director and chief executive of Parthian Pensions, said the industry faces two urgent problems: too few contributors and savings that may not stretch far enough. He noted that millions of Nigerians remain outside the formal pension system.
According to Odukoya, evolving market conditions and regulatory changes have added to the duties of pension fund administrators, and the sector needs practical answers rather than more paperwork.
Digital tools for informal workers
Speakers pointed to traders, farmers, artisans, freelancers and small-business owners, whose incomes often arrive irregularly, as the biggest untapped group. Digital tools such as automation, data analytics, artificial intelligence and integrated payment platforms could make it easier for them to contribute and to see what their savings might pay in retirement.
But the forum warned that technology should solve real problems, not just move old processes online. Registering more people is not enough, the speakers said; the goal is steady contributions and better lives after work.
The forum was attended by officials including Bolanle Eke of the National Pension Commission's Southwest zonal office and Adeyinka Aderigbe of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, according to Punch.
What happens next: The sources do not set out specific policy changes or timelines. The push from Parthian and other speakers is for the industry and regulators to widen coverage and measure success by retirees' living standards, not only by the size of the fund.
