This study examines the organizational dynamics of Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and its implications for retirees’ socioeconomic well-being. The CPS was introduced under the Pension Reform Act of 2004 to replace the unsustainable Defined Benefit system to enhance retirement security for retirees. Despite its reform objectives, the CPS continues to face organizational and institutional weaknesses that limit its ability to deliver adequate and equitable retirement outcomes for all categories of workers. The study aims to analyze how institutional structures, regulatory architecture and the performance of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) shape retiree outcomes under the CPS. Guided by an organizational sociology perspective and Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy theory, the study employs policy and institutional analysis, supported by comparative insights from Chile and Ghana. The CPS is constrained by weak compliance enforcement, exclusion of informal sector workers, inadequate infrastructure, bureaucratic delays, rising inflation and conservative investment strategies, which erode pension adequacy and widen inequality.

These challenges reflect persistent implementation gaps that disproportionately disadvantage vulnerable retirees. The study recommends hybrid benefit models, capped management fees, mobile-based micro-pensions and strengthened regulatory capacity to promote a more inclusive, equitable and resilient pension system in Nigeria.