General
No Official Earns N1m Monthly—PenCom Cries Out
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has clarified that no official under its employment collects up to N1 million as salary as alleged.
The clarification followed a report claiming that the least paid PenCom employee earns a salary of N3 million per month.
According to the company, “it has become necessary to set the record straight in the interest of the Nigerian public.”
In a press release seen by Business Post, PenCom disregarded the source of information, adding that, “The public is invited to note that the claim is false. The highest-paid official of the commission earns less than N1 million a month. It is, therefore, completely illogical and improbable that the least paid will earn a monthly salary of N3 million.”
According to the pension industry regulator, the news report has fueled all sorts of false allegations and unfair insinuations.
“We understand that there is an element of mischief and possible blackmail on the Commission’s compensation package. From our understanding, it appears someone calculated all staff costs, including training, staff exit benefit scheme, and employer’s pension contribution, and divided the total by the number of the commission’s employees and concluded that the least paid employee is on a monthly salary of N3 million. There is a clear difference between staff cost and staff salaries,” the statement said.
It clarified that since the inception of the commission in 2004, the federal government mandated the board to adopt an employee compensation policy that favourably compares to comparator government bodies in the financial services sector, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Section 25(2)(b) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 also empowers the Board of the Commission to fix the remuneration, allowances, and benefits of the employees.
It advised that the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector, headed by the late Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of the Interim National Government, made some recommendations that guide the PenCom Board in its compensation review exercises.
One recommendation is that “the pay structure of self-funded agencies should be benchmarked with their private sector comparators to ensure relativity in such agencies and attract and retain high-calibre professionals.”
The Shonekan Committee, which former President Olusegun Obasanjo set up in 2005, also recommended that the pay structure of regulatory agencies should be benchmarked against sectors they monitor to avoid regulatory capture and that an annual increase in pay should be undertaken to account for inflation/cost of living adjustment and establishments may strive to attain 50th percentile and above their comparators in the private sector.
PenCom noted that it had made this clear in a recent submission to the House of Representatives Committee on Finance over the compensation package of the Commission.
“We also stated that the last compensation package review was done in 2017 with the approval of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF). No review has been done in the last five years, and this has affected the agency’s ability to attract, hire and retain staff with competitive skills.”
“The public is implored to ignore the false and mischievous information on the staff compensation package. The Commission has nothing to hide and will continue to run a transparent and accountable system,” it hammered.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Kingdom–Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF), established in 2019 as part of a 16-year legacy of UK-funded infrastructure support to Nigeria, convened over 100 senior stakeholders on Tuesday, December 2, to review its progress and formally close out its current phase of operations.
The event brought together representatives from federal and state governments, development partners, development finance institutions, and the private sector to reflect on UKNIAF’s work across the power, infrastructure finance, and roads sectors. Discussions focused on institutional reforms, capacity development, and the sustainability of tools and processes introduced over the past six years.
Since inception, UKNIAF has delivered targeted technical assistance designed to embed evidence-based reforms, data-driven decision-making, and improved institutional performance. Its interventions have mobilised significant financing, strengthened regulatory and planning systems, and enhanced investor readiness across multiple infrastructure markets.
In the power sector, participants highlighted landmark achievements including the development of Nigeria’s first Integrated Resource Plan, which outlines a least-cost and low-carbon pathway for expanding electricity supply. UKNIAF also supported the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in building advanced real-time data capabilities for tariff monitoring, grid management, and outage tracking. The programme enabled pioneering states to establish their own electricity markets following constitutional reforms.
In infrastructure finance, UKNIAF was recognised for strengthening project preparation systems and enabling access to capital. Notable accomplishments include supporting the mobilisation of $75 million from the African Development Bank to the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) programme in two states, and accelerating mini-grid and solar deployment through improved technical standards at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
UKNIAF also designed a national project preparation facility, for which N21 billion was allocated in both the 2024 and 2025 budgets to build a pipeline of bankable projects.
Speaking on this, Mr Frank Edozie, UKNIAF Team Lead, described the programme’s close-out as a “handover for sustained delivery,” emphasising that strengthened institutions now hold tools that make Nigeria’s infrastructure landscape more transparent, climate-smart, and investor-ready.
On his part, the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, commended the programme, noting that its technical assistance and advisory services had helped lay the foundation for a sustainable and inclusive electricity supply industry.
Mrs Cynthia Rowe, Head of Development Corporation at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in Nigeria, praised the partnership, highlighting achievements ranging from state-level electricity market reforms to unlocking major financing and designing Nigeria’s Climate Change Fund.
Enugu State Secretary to the State Government, Professor Chidiebere Onyia, underscored the lasting influence of the programme, stating that UKNIAF’s impact continues through the expertise and leadership transferred to national and sub-national institutions.
The close-out event reaffirmed stakeholders’ commitment to sustaining tools, reforms, and knowledge products developed under UKNIAF, while strengthening collaboration among public, private, and development actors in the infrastructure ecosystem.
Participants included federal and state agencies such as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Federal Ministry of Power, Ministry of Finance, NERC, REA, and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, alongside development partners including the African Development Bank, World Bank, and IFC, as well as private sector and civil society stakeholders.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, has been slashed by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The Lagos-based oil facility brought down the ex-depot price of the petroleum product by 15.58 per cent or N129 per litre to N828 per litre.
Though the company had yet to release an official statement on this development, real-time market data on Petroleumprice.ng on Friday showed the new price.
Punch reports that data from the platform also showed fresh reductions across several private depots following the refinery’s latest review.
Sigmund Depot cut its ex-depot price by N4 to N824 per litre, Bulk Strategic dropped its price by N3, and TechnoOil slashed its by N15.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has inaugurated a new board for the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) with a renewed push to expand agricultural lending through technology, innovation and deeper financial inclusion.
Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja, Mr Cardoso said the scheme, established in 1977, remains a critical instrument for de-risking credit to farmers nationwide.
“The ACGSF has demonstrated enormous value in supporting Nigeria’s food system. With repayment rates consistently between 90 and 98 percent, it is clear that farmers can deliver when given access to credit,” he said.
The CBN Governor stressed the need for a more modernised approach to agricultural finance.
“We must scale up innovation, deepen inclusion and deploy technology to ensure that more farmers, especially women and youth, can benefit from this scheme,” Mr Cardoso stated, charging the new board to strengthen collaboration with financial institutions while ensuring real-time tracking and monitoring of loans to improve productivity and safeguard the fund’s integrity.
The newly inaugurated Board is chaired by Dr Olusegun Oshin, with members including Professor Murtala Sabo Sagagi, Dr Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, Mr Frank Satumari Kudla, Ms Olusola Sowemimo, Ms Adetoun Abbi-Olaniyan and Mr Wondi Philip Ndanusa.
Mr Cardoso expressed confidence in the team’s ability to reposition agricultural credit delivery.
“This Board comes at a crucial time. We expect stronger oversight, improved efficiency and a renewed focus on rural livelihoods,” he said.
According to a statement from the apex bank, Deputy Governors, Directors and senior officials of the bank were present at the ceremony.
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