In a move aimed at boosting the nation’s consumer credit system, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, on Thursday, launched a pension-backed loan scheme designed to empower retirees.

The initiative, launched in collaboration with Leadway Trustees and Optimus Bank, offers retirees access to loans starting from ₦50,000, with the maximum benchmark to be determined by the size of the pension income.

Nigeria’s pension system has undergone significant reforms over the past two decades, with the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and its subsequent amendments introducing the Contributory Pension Scheme to address decades of mismanagement and unpaid retirement benefits.

Despite these reforms, retirees often face financial difficulties, with limited access to credit and delayed payments, leaving many unable to meet urgent needs.

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Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Abuja, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of CREDICORP, Uzoma Nwagba, said the initiative would give retirees a new lease of life.

Nwagba noted that the scheme, launched under the theme “Empowering retirees with consumer credit,” covers both federal and state pensioners.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for his financially inclusive model of governance as enshrined in the Renewed Hope Agenda, stressing that the pension-backed loan programme reflects the administration’s commitment to creating opportunities for all Nigerians.

These, he added, include senior citizens who, for long, have not benefited from consumer credit.

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He said, “The programme leverages pension income, offering retirees tailored, low-interest loans that are both secure and sustainable.

“This first-of-its-kind product ensures that Nigeria’s senior citizens can access credit with dignity, without the burden of exorbitant rates or complex processes.

“Annuitants are the backbone of Nigeria’s progress, yet they have been sidelined in the credit ecosystem. This programme changes that narrative. By partnering with Leadway Trustees’ expertise in pension management, we are delivering a credit solution that is safe, affordable, and transparent. This is consumer credit redefined, inclusive, equitable, and empowering.”

The event, attended by stakeholders from the financial sector, pension industry, and annuitants’ associations, featured testimonials from early beneficiaries.

For instance, Amina Sule, a 68-year-old retired teacher, said, “For years, I wanted to start a small poultry business to stay active and support my family.

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“This programme gives me the confidence to borrow affordably, knowing my pension secures my loan. It’s not just credit, it’s hope and independence.”

Also speaking, a retired civil servant, Chukwuemeka Okeke, said, “Medical bills can be overwhelming. With this loan, I can cover my healthcare needs without stress. The process was straightforward, and I feel respected as a retiree.”

Consumer credit in Nigeria remains underdeveloped compared to global standards, where retirees in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom can easily access mortgages, healthcare, or small business loans backed by their pension or social security income.

In Nigeria, retirees have largely been excluded from such credit facilities, leading to widespread financial insecurity in old age.

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The Federal Government’s decision to introduce a pension-backed loan scheme through the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation marks the first structured attempt to integrate retirees into the country’s consumer credit ecosystem.

By leveraging pension payments as collateral, the initiative seeks to provide senior citizens with safe and affordable credit for healthcare, small-scale enterprises, and other personal needs.

The move is also in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which emphasises financial inclusion, poverty reduction, and economic empowerment.

Three royal families of Adeberu, Olufadi and Ayora/Tunwase of Fusengbuwa ruling house, Ile Nla, Agunsebi, Ijebu Ode have dragged the Ogun State Government, the former National President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Otunba Abdulateef Owoyemi, Dr Kunle Hassan, the founder of Eye Foundation Hospital and two others before an Ogun State High Court sitting at Ijebu Ode over the leadership crisis rocking the ruling house.

According to the court filings dated September 17 and made available to journalists on Thursday, the representatives of the three royal families, Adedokun Ajidagba, Adeleke Adeyemi and Ademola Sonaya, specifically urged the court to stop Owoyemi from parading himself as the head (Olori Ebi) of the Fusengbuwa ruling house.

The Fusengbuwa ruling house is the next to produce the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebu land after the demise of 91-year-old Oba Sikiru Adetona on July 13, after reigning for 65 years.

Adedokun, according to the documents filed before the court, asserted that Owoyemi has no ancestral link to the Ile-Nla compound in Agunsebi, the historic family house of Fusengbuwa.

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He listed the ruling house’s eight recognised branches as Olufadi, Ayora/Tunwase, Shenowo, Okuyandewo, Oshinuga, Adekenu, Adebiyi, and Adeberu.

The oil and gas businessman further claimed that Owoyemi hails from Ikoro-Ekiti and not Ijebu-Ode, a position he affirmed was corroborated by the late Awujale of Ijebuland, during a court proceeding at Ijebu-Ode in 2018.

Adedokun said his appointment as Olori-Ebi of Fusengbuwa was ratified on November 23, 2023, with official notification sent to the Ogun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and to the late Adetona.

He declared that he remains the authentic head of the Fusengbuwa ruling house and that the court should accede to the request of the three royal families and stop Owoyemi from parading himself henceforth as the head of the ruling house.

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The court is, however, yet to fix a date for the hearing of the suit

Recall that the former ICAN President had insisted that he remains the legitimate head of the Fusengbuwa ruling house by virtue of the Ibadan Court of Appeal judgement of 2024, which ruled in his favour and confirmed the fact that he had been the ruling house head appointed since 2013 after the death of Prince Fasasi Adeyemi

He stated that in 2011, he was appointed as the Deputy to the then head of the family, Adeyemi and by 2013, he was appointed as the Olori Ebi after the death of Adeyemi.

Owoyemi explained that after his appointment as the Olori Ebi of Fusengbuwa in March 2013, a splinter group had also appointed the late billionaire banker and founder of First City Monument Bank, Otunba Subomi Balogun, as the head of the same family.

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He disclosed that he had challenged this anomaly at a High Court sitting at Ijebu Ode and that while giving his judgment in 2018, Justice Asenuga resolved two of the issues brought before the court in his favour but failed to declare him as the Olori Ebi of Fusengbuwa.

Owoyemi explained, “I approached the Court of Appeal sitting at Ibadan and on November 28, 2024, in a judgment delivered by Justice Binta Fatima Zubairu, resolved all seven issues brought before the court in my favour.”

In a Certified True Copy of the judgment, which was made available to journalists, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal agreed that the defendants failed to prove the allegation of fraud upon which the High Court of Ijebu Ode in 2018 had failed to recognise Owoyemi as the duly appointed head of the ruling family.

He said that according to a letter dated November 22, 2023 and sent to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ogun State, Ajidagba was appointed as the acting head of the ruling house pending the determination of the suit he filed against the 2018 court judgment.

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Owoyemi disclosed, “As the Almighty God will have it, the Appeal Court upheld all my pleas, affirming my leadership of the ruling house since 2013.”

He revealed further that having been confronted with this immutable truth as dispensed by the Ibadan Court of Appeal, the other part of the ruling house, being led formerly by the renowned Ophthalmologist and founder of Eye Foundation Hospital, Dr Kunle Hassan after dialogue submitted to the decision of the court on Sunday, August 31, 2025, affirming his leadership of the ruling house.

The renowned accountant said that even the late Awujale, before his demise, called him back to the palace in February 2025 to mend fences with him, urging him to keep in touch constantly as one of the senior title holders in his government and a trusted ally.

He added that he remains a bonafide son of Ijebu land from Idowa Ijebu and that past attempts to distort history had been quashed by the November 2024 Ibadan Court of Appeal judgement

The Octogenarian urged every member of the ruling house to shun division, strife and avarice but cooperate with the leadership of the family for a rancour-free selection process for the next Awujale.

An Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City has restrained the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) and the state government from going ahead with planned local government by-elections across 59 wards in the state.

The Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice was also a party to the suit.

Justice Mary E. Itsueli, sitting as a vacation judge, granted the order on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, following an ex-parte motion brought to the court by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The PDP, through its counsels, Oluwole Osaze Uzzi, Michael Ekwemuka and P. W. Akwuen, in the suit marked: B/247M/2025, had prayed the court for leave to apply for judicial review of EDSIEC’s decision to conduct by-elections to fill councillorship positions in the affected wards.

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The party argued that the councillors’ tenures remain valid until September 2026, making any attempt to declare their seats vacant unlawful.

Justice Itsueli, who held that the applicants had shown sufficient grounds for the court to intervene, also referred the matter to the Chief Judge of Edo State for reassignment to a regular court, fixing September 30, 2025, for the return date.

In the enrolment order sighted by our correspondent, the PDP sought “an Order granting leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review of the decision of the 1st Respondent to conduct election across 59 wards purportedly to fill vacancies to their legislative seats/offices of Councillors sponsored by the Applicant, when their respective tenures subsist until September, 2026.”

The PDP also asked the court to grant “an Order that the Respondents stay further action and be restrained from conducting the election or taking any further steps in connection with the planned Local Government by election across 59 wards in Local Government Areas of Edo State, particularly as it relates to the seats/offices of the duly elected Councillors in their respective Wards, pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Motion on notice for judicial review to be filed pursuant to the grant of leave.”

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Having duly considered the application and submission of the Counsels to the PDP, the Court ordered that “the applicants are granted leave to apply for Judicial review of the decision of the 1st Respondent to conduct by elections across 59 Wards, purportedly to fill vacancies in the legislative seats/offices of Councillors sponsored by the Applicant, when their respective tenures subsist until September, 2026.”

The Court also ordered that the “respondents are to stay further actions and are restrained from conducting the election or taking any further steps in connection with the planned Local Government by-election across 59 wards in the Local Government Area of Edo State, particularly as it relates to the seats/offices of the duly elected Councillors in their respective wards, pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion on notice for Judicial review to be filed pursuant to the grant of leave.”

“This case is referred to the Honourable Chief Judge for assignment to a regular court. Return date is 30th September 2025,” Justice Mary Itsueli noted.