Lagos Makes Retirees Benefits State Priority
The Lagos State Government, under the leadership of His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, and Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, prioritises the benefits, well-being, and health of its retirees who have spent most of their active years in the service of the State.
Contrary to what some protesting retirees said, the State has recorded what stands as the most outstanding performance on pension matters in the history of the State, delivering sustained, measurable improvements in the welfare of retired public servants under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The Lagos State Pension Commission has paid N168.2 Billion (One hundred and sixty-eight billion, two hundred million Naira) to over 48,000 retirees from 2007 to date.
LASPEC revealed that from May 2019 to date, the Lagos State government has disbursed a cumulative sum of N92 billion in accrued rights to more than 25,000 retirees across Lagos State.
Accrued rights, it should be noted, comprise both the gratuity and pension elements owed to a retiring officer, and this administration has prioritised the prompt and full settlement of both components.
In demonstration of its commitment to the long-term financial security of workers, the administration in 2020 raised pension contribution rates to 10% for employers and 8% for employees, a deliberate policy intervention designed to grow the pension purse available to staff at retirement and strengthen the sustainability of the scheme.
This administration has been particularly deliberate in expediting the payment of accrued rights, releasing additional funding specifically to clear outstanding backlogs.
This resolve culminated in a landmark achievement in July 2024, when a single-batch payment of N5 billion was made to 1,963 retirees, an intervention that cleared all outstanding backlog in pension obligations under the CPS.
In a further demonstration of its human-centred approach to pension administration, the administration has instituted a policy of expedited gratuity payment as a first response to sick pensioners, ensuring timely relief where it is needed most, while the pension element continues to be paid directly into the retiree’s Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in line with due process.
Recognising the impact of rising living costs on retirees, the administration conducts welfare programmes biannually, benefiting thousands of retirees across the State and providing direct relief against the high cost of living.
For retirees under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), the administration extended the N25,000 wage award, given to state employees, to over 10,000 DBS retirees between December 2023 and February 2024.
This was followed, in March 2025, by a further increment of 20% and 28% for this category of pensioners. In May 2026, following the Federal Government’s award of a N32,000 wage increase to all pensioners on its books, the Lagos State Government matched this gesture for its own DBS retirees within the same year, an intervention that has driven the pension wage bill up by more than 100%.
True to this tradition of prompt and consistent payment, LASPEC has, so far this year, paid 1,862 retirees a total of over N4 billion, and is poised to disburse a further N1 billion to another 700 retirees within the next one week, further evidence of the administration’s unbroken commitment to clearing pension obligations as they arise.
Taken together, these milestones, spanning both the Contributory Pension Scheme and the Defined Benefits Scheme, reflect a sustained and deliberate commitment by the Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat administration to the welfare and dignity of Lagos State’s retired public servants, reinforcing the State’s position as a model in pension administration in Nigeria. #Lagos Makes Retirees Benefits State Priority# Lagos Inaugurates Agege Fresh Food Hub to Reduce Post-Harvest Losses
