PTAD says Assurance Bank retirees not entitled to N32,000 pension increment

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate PTAD,  has pushed back against a protest by former workers of the defunct Assurance Bank Plc, insisting that the demonstrators are not entitled to the N32,000 pension increment approved by President Bola Tinubu in 2024.

The ex-workers stormed PTAD’s Lagos office on Wednesday, June 10, demanding inclusion in the flat-rate increase. But the directorate said a government circular expressly exempts retirees from Assurance Bank, Peoples Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Reinsurance, NICON Insurance and NITEL/MTEL from that specific benefit.

“According to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission circular Ref. No. SWC/S/04/S.542/III/461 dated September 27, 2024, Defined Benefit Scheme pensioners of Peoples Bank of Nigeria, Assurance Bank, Nigeria Reinsurance, NICON Insurance, and NITEL/MTEL are exempted from the N32,000 pension increment,” PTAD stated.

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The directorate said the affected retirees were instead placed on a percentage-based review, entitling them to increases of 10.66 per cent and 12.95 per cent under a separate NSIWC circular dated November 24, 2024.

PTAD added that it had already disbursed N5.09bn to 11,205 eligible Defined Benefit Scheme pensioners from the affected institutions in December 2025, representing a 50 per cent payment of arrears arising from the percentage increases.

The agency expressed surprise that the retirees proceeded with the demonstration despite being aware of the policy position, noting that it had been formally communicated to them.

The retirees, however, maintained that the exclusion amounted to discrimination. Protest coordinator Idowu Oshikoya said many of those in the affected category were receiving less than N10,000 monthly. “The N32,000 palliative that was granted for all minimum wage earners, we are excluded. I don’t know how we can survive with that,” he said.