The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has expressed serious concern over the widespread non-compliance with the Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014) among media organisations in Nigeria.
Leading a delegation to the Nigerian Press Council in Abuja, PenCom’s Director General, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, revealed that newspaper establishments owe over ₦1.3 billion in unpaid pension contributions for their employees.
In a bid to address the situation, PenCom and the Nigerian Press Council have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at compelling media houses to settle their outstanding pension liabilities.
The PRA 2014 mandates that employers remit monthly pension contributions into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) no later than seven days after salary payments. However, Ms Oloworaran disclosed that many media organisations have consistently failed to comply with this legal requirement.
To tackle the issue, PenCom has deployed Recovery Agents to audit defaulters, assess outstanding debts, and apply relevant penalties.
The DG noted that the Commission has recently intensified its enforcement campaign by forging partnerships with key regulatory bodies to recover billions of naira in unpaid pension contributions. She added that the focus on the media sector marks a significant turning point, as it is the first time such a high-level engagement has been undertaken to address the long-standing issue within the industry.
“Journalists deserve to retire with dignity,” Ms Oloworaran stated, “especially given their crucial role in promoting accountability across both public and private sectors.”
She urged media organisations to lead by example by fulfilling their statutory pension obligations, and appealed to the Nigerian Press Council to advocate greater compliance within the sector. “Pension is a vital element of our social security system, and it is encouraging that the government is beginning to treat it with the seriousness it deserves,” she added.
In his response, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Press Council, Dr Dili Ezughah, pledged the Council’s full support in resolving the issue. He assured that the matter would be escalated to relevant industry stakeholders, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, stressing the grave implications of unpaid pensions on journalists’ welfare.
Dr Ezughah also described the failure to remit pension contributions as a long-standing and serious challenge in the Nigerian media industry.
The meeting concluded with the formation of a joint working group comprising officials from both PenCom and the Nigerian Press Council, tasked with ensuring a prompt and effective resolution of the matter.
