PenCom, NURTW plan pension coverage for nine million transport workers

The National Pension Commission and the National Union of Road Transport Workers have begun discussions on a partnership aimed at enrolling an estimated nine million transport workers into the Personal Pension Plan under Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme. The initiative was disclosed in a statement issued by PenCom on Wednesday following a courtesy visit by the National President of the NURTW, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, to the Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja. According to the statement, the engagement focused on expanding pension coverage among transport workers in the informal sector and exploring financing models that could support the acquisition of modern mass-transit vehicles across the country. PenCom said the proposed collaboration could significantly deepen pension and financial inclusion among transport workers operating in motor parks, logistics corridors, interstate routes and urban transport networks nationwide. Speaking during the meeting, Akinsanya said the union’s nationwide reach and large membership base presented a major opportunity to extend pension coverage to workers who had traditionally remained outside the formal pension system. He noted that the union had proposed a three-pronged partnership framework involving the mass enrolment of transport workers in the Personal Pension Plan, the deployment of an automated daily pension contribution system linked to existing transport revenue-collection platforms and the development of a National Transport Workers Mobility Enhancement Programme. According to him, the programme is designed to facilitate access to modern vehicles through structured financing arrangements. “A key component of the proposal is the establishment of a sustainable financing framework that would enable transport operators to acquire buses and other transport infrastructure through support from development finance institutions, commercial banks and other stakeholders,” the statement said. Under the proposed arrangement, daily collections from transport operators would be channelled through existing union structures to service vehicle financing obligations while simultaneously funding individual Personal Pension Plan accounts. Akinsanya said the model was expected to improve repayment efficiency, reduce financing risks and promote long-term savings among transport workers. “The arrangement is expected to improve repayment efficiency, reduce financing risks and encourage a culture of long-term savings among transport workers who have trad