The National Pension Commission, PenCom, has extended the deadline for its ongoing PenCom pension verification exercise for employees of treasury-funded Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies.
The mandatory One-Time Online Verification and Enrolment Exercise, which began in February 2026, was originally scheduled to end on July 31. The new deadline is now December 31, 2026.
PenCom said the extension became necessary because of low participation and requests from several Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, for additional time to complete the exercise.
The commission said 62,320 records of active employees and retirees had been uploaded by MDAs as of July 2026.
However, only 31,099 employees had successfully completed the enrolment process.
PenCom said the figures remained significantly below the estimated 150,000 active Federal Government employees entitled to accrued pension rights.
“Low participation in the exercise has necessitated the timeline extension,” the commission said.
It urged eligible employees who have not started the process, as well as those who began but have not completed it, to use the additional time before the new deadline.
The PenCom pension verification exercise is intended to establish the accrued pension rights of eligible workers before retirement.
The initiative forms part of Federal Government efforts to address pension liabilities inherited from the former Defined Benefit Scheme, which operated before the Contributory Pension Scheme was introduced in 2004.
Under Section 15(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, employees who transitioned to the CPS are entitled to accrued pension rights earned under the previous scheme.
These benefits include pension and gratuity entitlements accumulated from the date of first appointment up to June 30, 2004.
PenCom said the amounts are determined through an actuarial valuation process.
The commission explained that establishing the outstanding liabilities would help the Federal Government make adequate budgetary provisions for their settlement.
The exercise is being conducted electronically through PenCom’s Contributions and Bond Redemption Application, COBRA.
The platform is designed to capture, validate and process the information required for determining employees’ accrued pension rights.
A circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on April 27, 2026, directed treasury-funded MDAs to support the exercise and ensure eligible employees complete the enrolment.
Under the process, MDAs upload the details of eligible employees to the COBRA platform.
Affected employees are then required to visit their respective Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, with the necessary documents to complete the enrolment.
PenCom said trained Pension Desk Officers are also responsible for coordinating the exercise within their organisations and assisting eligible workers.
According to the commission, completing the exercise early would enable the government to determine the required funding for employees’ accrued pension rights.
Once the necessary amounts are determined and funded, the benefits will subsequently be credited to employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts, RSAs.
The funds would then be able to earn investment returns, potentially increasing the value of employees’ retirement benefits.
PenCom said it was working with MDAs, PFAs and other stakeholders to improve awareness and participation.
The commission stressed that all active employees of Federal Government treasury-funded MDAs who were in service as of June 30, 2004, are covered by the accrued pension rights provisions.
It therefore urged eligible employees and affected MDAs to complete the process before December 31, 2026.
