Tinubu: Judge Me By My Record, Not Promises Of My Opponents

.Unveils N52,500 minimum pension, free healthcare for retirees Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday appealed to Nigerians to assess his three and half year-old government by its record of achievements rather than promises being made by his political opponents. He also maintained that the economic reforms undertaken since his assumption of office on May 29, 2023 were necessary to rebuild the country and secure its future. Speaking at the launch of the Presidential Pension Security Initiative and National Minimum Pension Guarantee Programme at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, the President, represented by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, listed the removal of petrol subsidy, unification of foreign exchange rates, infrastructure development, education financing, expanded access to credit and pension reforms as major policy decisions undertaken by his administration to address longstanding economic challenges. His words: “Now let us talk about the people who want this job. Do not listen to what they promise. Promises are free. Look at what they did when they were in power in the past. “Some of them were even governors, and one of them was the Vice President of this country for eight years. So let them answer three questions: Which retiree did you guarantee? Which pensioner did you insure? And which floor did you erect for them to stand on? Where is the record?” He maintained that the decision to remove petrol subsidy in May 2023, despite its immediate economic implications, reflected his administration’s determination to confront difficult national challenges rather than transfer their consequences to future generations. He challenged political leaders seeking public office to demonstrate what they achieved while previously entrusted with leadership responsibilities, insisting that Nigerians should evaluate performance through measurable results rather than electoral commitments. “On the 29th day of May, 2023, I said three words that no president before me had dared to say: ‘Subsidy is gone.’ They said those three words would finish me. I said them anyway, because a leader who is afraid of the truth has no business asking for your mandate. “We unified the exchange rates. We shut down a fraud dressed up as a favour to the poor. We chose to carry the pain ourselves rather than send the bills to our children and future generations, and then we sat down to think and commence the business of rebuilding Nigeria.” Tinubu also highlighted the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), reforms in the taxation system and the expansion of consumer and business credit facilities as interventions designed to improve access to education, stimulate economic activities and support ordinary Nigerians. On pension administration, the President said the reforms had enabled the settlement of longstanding retirement obligations, including pension arrears accumulated over several years, while providing a framework for guaranteed minimum pension payments and healthcare protection for retirees.“On pension reforms and fulfilled promises Again, we did not promise; we paid them, that is the record.” He further maintained that increased revenues available to state governments following the economic reforms had strengthened their capacity to invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare and the settlement of outstanding pension liabilities. Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s determination to sustain ongoing reforms, strengthen social protection and deliver tangible improvements in the living conditions of Nigerians. The President put an end to a 22-year delay in implementing Nigeria’s statutory minimum pension guarantee, declaring an immediate commencement of the scheme that will raise the monthly retirement benefits of more than 170,000 eligible pensioners to at least N52,500. He also launched PenCare, a free healthcare initiative for low-income retirees, saying no Nigerian worker who contributed to the nation’s development should be condemned to poverty or denied essential medical treatment in old age. Tinubu said the Federal Government was determined to restore dignity to retirement by ensuring that workers who devoted their productive years to national service enjoyed financial security and access to healthcare. The President described the initiatives as the fulfilment of a statutory obligation neglected by successive administrations since the enactment of the Pension Reform Act in 2004. He recalled that Section 71 of the 2004 Act established the legal basis for a guaranteed minimum pension, while Sections 82 and 84 of the 2014 amendment reinforced the provision and established a funding framework for its implementation. Tinubu expressed disappointment that four past governments had come and gone without activating the guarantee, leaving thousands of retirees exposed to financial hardship despite the protection provided by law. “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 home”. Declaring the scheme operational, the President said “today, I dare say that lie ends here. By the authority vested in me as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I hereby declare the Minimum Pension Guarantee Scheme commenced with effect from today, to be administered by the National Pension Commission under the Pension Reform Act”. Tinubu disclosed that his administration had raised a N458 billion bond to address outstanding pension arrears, maintaining that the government had moved beyond promises to actual payments. “We issued a bond of N458 billion and we paid them. I said we did not promise, we paid them”, he stated. The President also cited the approval of a N32,000 monthly consequential pension adjustment for affected federal retirees, explaining that the intervention had improved the benefits of pensioners previously receiving amounts below the national minimum wage. He highlighted increases in retirement benefits for former Nigeria Airways workers, saying some beneficiaries who previously received as little as N80,000 monthly now collected up to N206,000. According to him, his administration had also introduced pension enhancements under the Contributory Pension Scheme, which he described as unprecedented interventions in the country’s retirement security system. Also speaking, Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms Omolola Oloworaran, announced that Nigeria’s minimum monthly pension had been set at ₦52,500, with 173,209 retirees identified as eligible beneficiaries under the National Minimum Pension Guarantee Programme. Oloworaran explained that the initiative, backed by a Pension Protection Fund exceeding ₦400 billion, marked the fulfilment of a 22-year-old commitment under the Pension Reform Act of 2004 to guarantee a minimum retirement income for eligible pension contributors. She disclosed that 34 per cent of the identified beneficiaries retired from the federal public service, 12 per cent from state governments and 54 per cent from the private sector, highlighting the programme’s significance for low-income retirees across different sectors of the economy. On outstanding pension obligations, the PenCom boss disclosed that the Tinubu administration inherited liabilities exceeding ₦2 trillion and had so far facilitated the settlement of ₦1.07 trillion. According to her, 13 states had either cleared their inherited pension obligations, recorded no legacy liabilities or settled at least 80 per cent of their outstanding arrears, a development she attributed to economic and fiscal reforms that improved their capacity to meet retirement obligations. On healthcare protection for pensioners, Oloworaran disclosed that the pension industry had committed over ₦7 billion to the PenCare initiative, with health insurance premiums already paid for nearly 30,000 low-income retirees. She explained that the programme was designed to reduce the financial burden of medical treatment on vulnerable pensioners, ensuring that retirement income would not be entirely consumed by healthcare expenses.