Retirees under Nigeria's Contributory Pension Scheme will now receive at least ₦52,500 a month, after President Bola Tinubu activated a minimum pension guarantee in Abuja.

What was announced

At the Presidential Pension Security Initiatives ceremony at the State House on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, the President, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, declared the guarantee active for 173,209 qualifying retirees. He described it as a floor beneath Nigerian retirees and urged future governments to raise it but never remove it. The Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, confirmed the figure and said more than 65 per cent of private-sector retirees currently earn less than the new minimum.

Who benefits

According to PenCom, 54 per cent of the qualifying retirees come from the private sector, 34 per cent from federal service and 12 per cent from state employment. More than ₦400bn in the Pension Protection Fund will finance the guarantee.

Healthcare and arrears

The President also launched PenCare, a healthcare plan that will give low-income pensioners free access to essential health services, with access cards to be distributed in the coming months. He said the government had issued a ₦758bn bond to clear pension arrears and approved a ₦32,000 monthly adjustment for affected federal pensioners.

Background

The minimum pension was first written into the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and kept in the 2014 law, but no government had put it into effect until now.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says 28 people linked to the country's imported Ebola case are still being monitored.

The update

In its national health security update released on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, NCDC Director-General Dr Jide Idris said 34 other contacts had been discharged after completing the mandatory 21-day monitoring period. As of 9 November, Nigeria had confirmed only one imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease, a species of Ebola, with no further confirmed cases.

The response

Idris said the response involves the Federal Ministry of Health, the FCT Administration, state authorities and development partners, with contact tracing, investigation of reported cases, laboratory testing, infection prevention and control, safe patient care and stronger screening at entry points.

Background

Ebola is a severe and often deadly viral disease spread through contact with the body fluids of infected people. The 21-day monitoring period reflects the maximum incubation time of the virus. The case in Nigeria is linked to an outbreak in Central Africa; the United States has just barred travellers who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past 21 days. Nigeria contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014.

Advice

Health authorities urge anyone with symptoms such as fever, weakness, vomiting or unexplained bleeding, especially after travel or contact with a suspected case, to report to a health facility immediately.

Edo State governor Monday Okpebholo says he will approve the execution of convicted kidnappers, regardless of who they are.

What he said

In a video shared on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, the governor said he would sign death warrants for anyone found guilty of kidnapping, even if it were his own father or a close relative. He said the state needed to remove criminal elements from society, arguing that kidnappers were the ones killing people.

The law

Edo State has a law that prescribes the death penalty for kidnapping, and the governor's administration says it is moving to enforce it. Under Nigerian law, state governors must sign death warrants before executions can take place.

Background

Executions in Nigeria are rare because governors have generally been reluctant to sign death warrants, and human rights groups oppose the death penalty.

Former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has denied that ₦210 trillion went unaccounted for while he led the company.

What happened

Kyari appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which is examining queries raised by the Auditor-General of the Federation over NNPCL's audited financial statements for 2017 to 2023, according to reports on Tuesday, 10 November 2026. The disputed figure is made up of ₦103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion listed as sundry receivables. Kyari told the committee that no money was lost under his watch and that the figures arose from a misreading of the company's records.

The committee's position

The committee began examining the figures in June 2025 and has repeatedly rejected the company's explanations, insisting that NNPCL properly account for the entries.

Background

Kyari led NNPC from 2019 until 2025, overseeing its conversion into a limited liability company under the Petroleum Industry Act.