NPF PENSIONS CONSIDERS DANGOTE REFINERY, OTHER ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim

The Nigeria Police Force Pensions Limited is exploring investment opportunities in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as part of efforts to diversify its portfolio and maintain strong returns for police officers and retirees.

The Acting Managing Director of NPF Pensions, Muhammed Dutse, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday during activities marking the 2026 Customer Service Week.

Dutse explained that the pension fund administrator was considering alternative investment opportunities as declining interest rates could reduce returns from traditional fixed-income securities and bank instruments.

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He specifically cited the growing interest in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, saying NPF Pensions was also assessing opportunities around the multibillion-dollar facility.

According to him, the company’s investment strategy would combine equities with private equity, infrastructure funds and other alternative assets instead of relying heavily on returns from bank deposits.

Dutse said NPF Pensions was also evaluating opportunities in the stock market, including investments in shares of major Nigerian companies, to protect pension assets and deliver competitive returns to its contributors.

He noted that the need to diversify had become more important following changes in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy direction, which could affect the yields available to pension fund administrators.

Dutse said the pension manager would increasingly explore opportunities in infrastructure, private equity and the energy sector to strengthen its investment portfolio.

“Our strategy is a combination of all these instruments in place. We just don’t rely on what banks give us,” he said.

He added that the current investment environment had created opportunities in sectors such as infrastructure, private equity and energy.

Dutse disclosed that NPF Pensions had recorded an average annual return of between 23 and 24 per cent over the past five years, with returns reaching nearly 37 per cent in one of the years.

He said the company had developed strategies to sustain its investment performance despite changing conditions in the financial markets.

“Clearly, we have worked out some strategies to ensure that we maintain this particular rate of return on our investments, which, of course, is yielding positive returns to all our clients,” he stated.

On concerns over pension benefits among retired police officers, Dutse said the Federal Government was working on measures to improve retirees’ take-home pay.

He disclosed that a presidential committee was already considering the issue and efforts were ongoing to improve pension benefits.

Dutse also revealed that NPF Pensions operates a Retirement Resettlement Support Scheme, which provides temporary assistance to retiring police officers while they await the release of their pension benefits.

He added that the company also organises pre-retirement programmes designed to equip officers with entrepreneurial skills and expose them to opportunities such as poultry farming.

On customer service, Dutse said NPF Pensions had expanded direct engagement with contributors and introduced a WhatsApp Business platform that had attracted nearly 100,000 police officers.

According to him, the digital platform enables officers to access pension-related services remotely without having to visit NPF Pensions offices.