Retired Police officers reject contributory pension scheme demand establishment of Pensions Board

Nigeria Police Force retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) have demanded the establishment of the Police Pensions Board, as has been done for other sister security agencies.

They also appealed to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to help sign their exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The retirees said that acceding to the request would enable them to have something to live on like those of the military and other ministries, departments, and agencies after serving their fatherland.

They also vowed to storm Aso Rock if it would take that for the presidency to listen to their appeal and assent to their request.

The chairperson of police retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme in Oyo State, ACP Victoria Ladigbolu (rtd), who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune at the gathering of other members in Ibadan, said: “Some of us served for 30 to 35 years. The law was first passed in 2004, with effect from June.

“However, it was backdated to 1972 or 1973, when the law cannot be backdated for a day. That means the years we served are being wasted.

“It is jurisprudence that says laws cannot be backdated. As a result of the backdating, once someone retires from a contributory pension scheme, there is no increase.

“We lost 33 per cent in 2010 and consequentially adjusted as a result of the N30,000 national minimum wage in 2018. Other pensioners were paid, but those of us from the Nigeria Police Force were not paid anything.

“Even a Commissioner of Police is receiving between N68,000 and N70,000, depending on the year of retirement. And with the present economic situation, the Inspector General of Police should take note of our suffering.”

She stated further that another tripartite committee had been set up to work on the new minimum wage, adding, “We are not likely to get anything if we remain in the contributory pension scheme.

“That is why we want to be exited from the scheme, as it was done for sister security agencies like the military, DSS, NIA, FIRS, and workers at the National Assembly.

They initially did theirs together with us in the contributory pension scheme, but they exited them and left us.

“We learned that when this paper got to the president’s table, he looked at it and said that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. He wanted it to be done as it happened to others. That was why he returned it to the National Assembly.

“We are appealing for it to be done in good time and returned to the Presidency for assent.”

ACP Ladigbolu said that her pension had not been more than N60,000 since she retired 15 years ago, while her colleague in the military is getting over N300,000, lamenting that the disparity was too much.

A retired Deputy Superintendent of Police also said that he collects 40,000 while his colleague with the same rank in another security agency gets almost N250,000.

Going down memory lane, the police retirees in unison recalled that the Nigeria Police Force is the first security agency, “but today, we are treated like slaves in our country.

“No country treats its police officers like this and enjoys good security. The discrepancy is too much. With the country’s economic condition, our people are dying because they don’t have money to take care of themselves. They don’t have money to feed them.

“Retired police personnel are dying of poverty after serving the country for 35 years. A bill has been raised to create the Police Pensions Board.

“It has been passed to the National Assembly, and we are appealing that they should fasten work on it so that we can get money to take care of ourselves and our family members at our retirement.

“We have children in schools but no money to take care of them. Some of them had to withdraw from the school. This is our predicament,” the retirees said.