General
Pension Arrears Payment: Court Fines CBN
By Adedapo Adesanya
Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae of the National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has fined the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) the sum of N100,000 over the bank’s replacement of an application filed for a stay of execution on the judgement of the court over the payment of pension arrears to the former Governor of Taraba State, Mr Jolly Nyame; Mr Uba Ahmadu; Mr Abubakar Armayau and Mr Bilkisu Danboyi.
At the court on Monday, counsel to the central bank, Mrs Johannah Titus, said she was withdrawing an earlier motion dated and filed on May 27 to replace it with another filed yesterday.
This was kicked against by Mr Edward Erhinure, counsel to Mr Nyame, who argued that he had already filed a counter-affidavit to the May 27 application and had also spent money to file processes in response to the application, praying the court to award him the sum of N1 million as costs.
However, Mr Confidence Samuel, counsel to the judgment debtor, the Taraba Government, informed the court that he was not opposing the CBN’s application.
While ruling on the matter, Justice Obaseki-Osaghae directed the CBN counsel to move the motion to replace the same with the one filed on Monday and awarded the sum of N100,000 as costs against the bank to be paid before the next adjourned date, October 17 for a hearing of Monday’s application.
In addition to the application of a stay of execution by CBN, it also filed a notice of appeal contesting the garnishee order delivered by the same court on May 24.
A garnishee order is a judicial proceeding of execution or enforcement of monetary judgment whereby money belonging to a judgment debtor, in the hands or possession of a third party known as the ‘Garnishee’ (usually a bank), is attached or seized by a judgment creditor, the ‘Garnisher’, in satisfaction of a judgment sum of debt.
The court in its ruling made an order absolute in the garnishee proceeding ordering the CBN to pay the judgment creditors.
The judgment creditors had filed the suit against the judgment debtor, the Taraba State Government, and CBN, the garnishee debtor, through a garnishee proceeding.
The judgment debtor in a response filed an application filed on January 24, seeking the order of the court to set aside the order nisi (an order that will ripen or take effect at some set date in the future, unless the order is rescinded by a court before that date), granted in favour of the judgment creditors on December 2, 2021.
CBN on its part had objected to the garnishee proceeding by stating that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the proceeding.
The garnishee proceeding had emanated from a judgment delivered by the same court on July 12, 2019.
In the judgment, the court had ordered the payment of the sum of N151.1 million, being the unpaid pension arrears of the judgment creditors.
The judgment, which was delivered by Justice Sanusi Kado, was for an unpaid pension from May 2013 to October 2015.
The court, in the said judgment, had ordered 10 equal instalment payments, commencing from July 2019, on a monthly basis until the final liquidation of the total sum.
The judgment creditors were paid the sum of N16.3 million as the first instalment but were never paid again until the expiration of the instalment plan in Nov. 2021.
The judgment creditors, who were former employees of the judgment debtor upon retirement, were paid the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is developing a new investment vehicle that would channel part of Nigeria’s $22 billion pension assets into critical infrastructure projects, providing long-term financing for roads, railways, energy and healthcare.
The proposal was disclosed by PenCom spokesman, Mr Ibrahim Buwai, who said the initiative is expected to be launched later this year as the commission explores ways to mobilise pension assets for national development while protecting contributors’ savings.
Mr Buwai said the regulator is promoting the creation of a special-purpose investment vehicle that would allow pension assets from different fund managers to be pooled for financing commercially viable infrastructure projects.
“We are encouraging the setting up of a vehicle, kind of special purpose vehicle, where resources can be pooled, so that viable infrastructure projects can be looked at,” he said, explaining that the proposed fund is designed to balance national development with the interests of pension contributors by targeting investments capable of delivering returns that outperform inflation.
He noted, however, that participation will remain at the discretion of individual Pension Fund Administrators, while the final size of the investment vehicle is yet to be determined.
The proposal also comes as pension investments in infrastructure continue to expand. Latest data published by PenCom show that investments through infrastructure funds climbed by 38 per cent year-on-year to N318 billion (about $230 million) as of May 2026, reflecting growing interest among pension managers in long-term infrastructure assets.
The proposed infrastructure vehicle aligns with PenCom’s broader strategy of increasing the role of pension assets in Nigeria’s capital market and unlocking what it describes as the industry’s largest pool of long-term passive investment capital.
The initiative follows a period of strong growth in the pension industry, with Nigeria’s total pension assets rising to a record N31.32 trillion in May 2026 despite challenging economic conditions.
PenCom has also intensified efforts to strengthen compliance within the pension system. Working with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the commission recently recovered more than N3 billion in outstanding pension contributions that employers had failed to remit on behalf of workers.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has asked to be integrated into the B’Odogwu platform of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
This call was made by the head of NAQS, Mr Vincent Isegbe, during a meeting with the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mr Isegbe, who used the visit to congratulate Mr Adeniyi on the extension of his tenure as Chairperson of the World Customs Organisation Council, which he described as recognition of his dedication and leadership, praised what he called an excellent working relationship with Customs.
He outlined areas for closer partnership, including integrating NAQS into Customs’ B’Odogwu platform, joint enforcement operations, and coordinated efforts to detect fake certification and fraudulent documentation.
In his remarks, Mr Adeniyi commended his guest for the partnership, promising that NAQS will provide technical support for the new Customs laboratory.
According to him, this is one of the avenues to deepen collaboration between the two agencies on intelligence sharing, trade facilitation and national security.
He informed Mr Isegbe that his organisation was moving to harmonise inspection procedures across the country’s ports and border stations, a step he described as critical to promoting consistency, transparency and efficiency in cargo clearance nationwide.
He also stated that customs training facilities would be opened up to NAQS officers as part of a broader capacity-building push.
“We must expose our officers to the broader concept of national security. Border management goes beyond revenue collection,” Mr Adeniyi said, stressing that Customs sees itself as the anchor institution coordinating Nigeria’s multi-agency border protection efforts.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s solid minerals sector recorded a boom of 337 per cent in two years, jumping from N16 billion in 2023 to over N70 billion in 2025, according to the chief executive of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), Mrs Fatima Umaru Shinkafi.
She disclosed that the sector also recorded a remarkable 33.5 per cent real growth in 2025, while reforms attracted fresh investment commitments worth about $2.6 billion, including a $1.3 billion alumina refinery described as the single biggest mining investment in Nigeria’s history.
Mrs Shinkafi gave out these figures at the maiden Annual Lecture of the Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences, University of Lagos (UNILAG), where she declared that stronger collaboration among government, industry and academia is the master key to unlocking Nigeria’s vast mineral wealth.
Delivering the keynote lecture titled Building Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Future: The Power of Academia, Government and Industry in Partnership, she lamented that despite Nigeria’s deposits of more than 44 commercially viable minerals spread across over 500 locations, the industry still contributes less than one per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
She, however, said the story is changing under the Seven-Point Agenda of the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, with reforms already repositioning mining as a major driver of economic growth.
The SMDF boss also unveiled the Early-Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment (EMERGE), describing it as Nigeria’s first competitive research funding platform dedicated to geoscience studies in universities.
According to her, the initiative will fund mineral exploration, critical minerals research and postgraduate studies, while equipping successful applicants with technical training and access to investment opportunities.
She challenged UNILAG researchers to seize the opportunity by submitting quality proposals, insisting that research remains the foundation for building a globally competitive mining industry.
Mrs Shinkafi then urged young women to embrace careers in science and mining, stressing that Nigeria’s hidden mineral wealth can only be fully unlocked through the innovation, skills and determination of the next generation.
