The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has raised an alarm over the failure of newspaper organisations in Nigeria to remit over N1.3 billion in pension contributions owed to their retired journalists.
This was made known by PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Press Council (NPC), as disclosed in a statement released on Tuesday.
Oloworaran criticized the lack of adherence to the Pension Reform Act of 2014 by many media houses. The law stipulates that employers must transfer employees’ pension contributions into their Retirement Savings Accounts within seven days after wages are paid.
Due to persistent non-compliance, PenCom has deployed recovery agents to assess the defaulting organisations, calculate the unpaid amounts, and apply appropriate sanctions.
In response to the crisis, PenCom and the NPC have formed a partnership to engage media outlets and pressure them to settle their pension debts.
Oloworaran emphasized the need for journalists—who are instrumental in promoting transparency and accountability in society—to receive the financial security they deserve upon retirement. She appealed to the NPC to help drive awareness and enforcement within the media industry, describing pension contributions as essential to preventing poverty in old age.
NPC Executive Secretary Dili Ezughah assured PenCom of the council’s commitment, promising to bring the issue to the attention of major stakeholders such as the Nigeria Union of Journalists and the Nigerian Guild of Editors. He noted that the continued failure to remit pensions is one of the key issues undermining the welfare of journalists in the country.
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