The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has officially launched a new initiative allowing Nigerians in the informal sector to contribute to their retirement savings through Point of Sale (POS) terminals. Speaking in Abuja on Monday, February 9, 2026, the Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, announced the accreditation of the first pension agent, Awabah, to drive this transition.
The move is designed to boost pension penetration in the informal sector, which currently stands at a mere 0.25%, effectively leaving over 75 million artisans, traders, and small business owners without a financial safety net for old age.
The initiative leverages the rebranded Personal Pension Plan (PPP), formerly known as the Micro Pension Plan, to make retirement savings as accessible as a standard bank transaction. By using the vast network of POS agents across the country, self-employed individuals can now make small, flexible contributions starting from as little as N3,000 per month.
Oloworaran emphasized that the goal is to take pensions “to the street,” ensuring that every Nigerian, regardless of their employment status, can build long-term economic resilience through simple mobile and agent-based platforms.
To incentivize participation, the PPP is structured with a unique “contingent withdrawal” feature. Contributions are typically split, with 40% placed in a contingent portion that contributors can access for emergencies after just three months, while the remaining 60% is preserved for retirement.
Tunji Andrews, CEO of Awabah, noted that this flexibility is crucial for informal workers with irregular income streams, as it combines long-term savings with immediate financial protection and insurance coverage.
PenCom aims to lift informal sector pension coverage to 10% by the end of 2026 by integrating payment service banks, telecoms, and fintech firms into the ecosystem. The Director-General described the lack of coverage as a “national vulnerability,” stating that financial security in old age is a matter of justice and nation-building rather than charity.
By digitizing the onboarding and remittance process, the commission expects to mobilize significant domestic capital while protecting millions of Nigerian families from falling into poverty after decades of hard work.
 has officially launched a new initiative allowing Nigerians in the informal sector to contribute to their retirement savings through Point of Sale (POS) terminals. Speaking in Abuja on Monday, February 9, 2026, the Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, announced the accreditation of the first pension agent, Awabah, to drive this transition. The move is designed to boost pension penetration in the informal sector, which currently stands at a mere 0.25%, effectively leaving over 75 million artisans, traders, and small business owners without a financial safety net for old age.){kind=link}