Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has begun paying a new one-time exit benefit to retiring civil servants, with 175 former workers receiving a combined N1.1 billion under the scheme.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) announced the development on Friday, saying the beneficiaries were former staff of treasury-funded ministries, departments and agencies who retired between January 1 and August 31, 2026.
“This exit benefit equals 100 per cent of each eligible retiree’s total annual emolument and stands completely separate from the payments available under the Contributory Pension Scheme,” PenCom stated.
The Federal Executive Council approved the arrangement earlier this year following the work of an inter-ministerial technical committee comprising the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, PenCom, the Budget Office and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
PenCom said the Federal Government provided N32.90 billion for the scheme in the 2026 budget.
So far, N12.3 billion has been released into a dedicated account at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Eligible retirees are required to submit clearance letters and recent payslips to their Pension Fund Administrators for verification.
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Korede Abdullah 
