FG Begins Payment of N32,000 Pension Increment to DBS Retirees

The Federal Government, through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), has commenced the payment of a new N32,000 pension increment to retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), effective from the September 2025 payroll cycle. This payment comes alongside percentage increases of 10.66% and 12.95% for eligible pensioners, benefiting about 832,000 retirees nationwide.

PTAD disclosed that this milestone was made possible by the partial release of N820.188 billion from the emergency budgetary allocation approved by the Federal Government, reflecting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to improving pensioners’ welfare under his Renewed Hope Agenda.

The pension increment package, formally approved in August 2025, includes the fixed N32,000 increase plus the percentage adjustments targeting retirees from defunct public institutions, privatised agencies, and treasury-funded parastatals. The initiative aims to address long-standing challenges such as irregular payments, delayed pension harmonisation, and access to healthcare.

Alongside the increase, the reforms include the enrolment of all DBS pensioners into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the settlement of outstanding unfunded pension liabilities. PTAD thanked President Tinubu, the Minister of Finance, Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and other key stakeholders for their support in securing the emergency funding and implementing the reforms.

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PTAD Executive Secretary, Tolulope Odunaiya, reaffirmed the Directorate’s commitment to ensuring that pensioners receive their entitlements promptly and expressed gratitude to pensioners’ groups for their cooperation during negotiations and implementation.

The DBS pension scheme covers retirees who exited service before the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2004. With the new reforms, a historic advancement in pension management is being marked, bringing relief and improved living standards to thousands of retired Nigerian civil servants and workers