Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed remarks made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding Nigeria’s pension backlog, labeling the current administration’s stance as an ineffective attempt to shift blame. The dispute began when President Tinubu suggested to Northeast political leaders, including Governor Babagana Zulum, that the Obasanjo/Atiku administration was responsible for current pension challenges.
In a formal statement, Atiku’s media office argued that the current leadership should prioritize governance over casting blame on predecessors. The statement emphasized that governance is a continuous process where incoming leaders must manage existing assets and liabilities. Atiku noted that when his administration took office in 1999, they inherited a severely broken and unfunded pension system with a deficit exceeding N2 trillion. Instead of pointing fingers, his team initiated reforms.
By the end of their term in 2007, the Obasanjo/Atiku administration had enacted the Pension Reform Act of 2004. This legislation moved the nation from a problematic pay-as-you-go model to a privately managed, fully funded Contributory Pension Scheme. This system requires both employers and employees to pay into individual Retirement Savings Accounts, establishing a more stable and transparent framework for national retirement benefits.
