The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has allayed concerns over the reported 38.1 per cent decline in pension contributions in the first quarter of 2026, explaining that the drop was largely caused by exceptional Federal Government remittance that inflated the preceding quarter’s figures. According to the commission’s latest clarification, total pension contributions fell from N903.70 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 to N559.42 billion in Q1 2026, representing a headline decline of N344.28 billion. However, PenCom said the Q4 figure included N499.15 billion in one-off government payments, which significantly distorted the quarter-on-quarter comparison. After excluding the exceptional inflows, the commission said underlying pension contributions in Q4 stood at N404.55 billion. Against this adjusted figure, the N559.42 billion recorded in Q1 represents an increase of N154.87 billion or 38.2 per cent. The figures indicate that regular pension contributions remained on a positive trajectory despite the apparent contraction in the headline figures, underscoring the resilience of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). The commission said the extraordinary Q4 inflows comprised N379.96 billion for pension increases arising from the 15 per cent, 33 per cent and consequential adjustments implemented in 2007, 2010, 2019 and 2024.