The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has rolled out a fresh drive to extend pension coverage to about nine million transport workers under the Personal Pension Plan (PPP).

The plan is expected to deepen financial inclusion and expand social security for the informal sector operators.

The initiative, being developed in partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), is expected to increase retirement savings among workers in one of Nigeria’s largest informal-sector groups while creating a framework for structured financing of mass-transit vehicles across the country.

The proposed arrangement, which emerged during discussions between PenCom and the leadership of the NURTW, seeks to leverage the union’s nationwide network to drive pension enrolment among transport operators who have largely remained outside the formal retirement savings system.

If successfully implemented, the programme would represent one of the most ambitious pension inclusion drives in recent years, potentially increasing the number of contributors under the pension scheme and extending social security coverage to millions of Nigerians without formal retirement protection.

Under the proposal, transport workers would make automated daily pension contributions through existing revenue collection channels within the transport ecosystem, while part of the collection could also support structured financing arrangements for the acquisition of modern buses and other transport infrastructure.

Speaking during the engagement, NURTW National President, Musiliu Akinsanya, said the union’s estimated membership of nine million workers across motor parks, logistics corridors and interstate transport routes presents a unique opportunity to expand pension coverage and promote long-term savings.

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