That day, thousands of retired officers of the force gathered in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and across some states of the federation to protest what they term the poor and unacceptable implementation of the Contributing Pensions Scheme (CPS) of the federal government.

The retired police officers on that day, defied the heavy rains in the FCT as they completely took over entrance to the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force and the National Assembly, carrying various placards and chanting ?Pay police a living wage and proper pensions,? among other banners bearing similar inscriptions.

Interestingly, while they carried out their protest, their colleagues who are still in service tried to disperse them using force, but that did not deter them. When their colleagues saw that the protesting police retirees would not bulge, they informed the higher authorities who then ordered that the protesters be given police escort to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Unlike other protests, this particular one did not record the usual throwing of teargas to disperse protesters, neither were there shootings or any accidental discharge from the police officers deployed to maintain law and order.

The protesters who stood in the rain throughout the protest said that their welfare and dignity had been neglected for too long.

In an interview with Saturday Sun, some retired police officers bared their minds as to why they are opposed to the CPS and how they have suddenly become beggars after retirement.

CPS exploitative, implementation obnoxious, govt should take police out ? Christopher Effiong, retired Superintendent of Police (SP), National Coordinator, Police Retirees under CPS

?I?m a retired Police Superintendent and the National Coordinator, Police Retirees Under CPS.

Retired police officers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) are protesting against their inclusion in the pension scheme which is obnoxious in policy and implementations.

?Majority of us had served the Police Force and were due for gratuity and Pension as at June 2004 when the New Pension Reform Act was borrowed from Chile and planted in Nigeria.

?We were ripe for 300 per cent of our last annual gross pay as gratuity and 80 per cent of our last month salary as monthly pensions. This was the basis of contractual agreement upon our enlistment into the Police Force.?

Section 173(2) (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended explains that retirees pensions shall be subject to upward review after every 5 years or whenever there is increment for serving members.

The above conditions are suppressed in the implementation of the 2004 Pension Reform Act and its 2014 reviewed version.

Pension Reform Act 2004 made mention of employees and employers contributions to the scheme, but never stated that gratuity will no longer be paid to retirees.

Retirees in Nigeria under the pre- CPS scheme known as Defined Benefit Scheme of course are the ones enjoying this constitutional right while those under CPS are denied their gratuity. The CPS offers a lump sum in place of gratuity, which is about a quarter of the balance in a retiree?s account balance as at the time of retirement. It is a portion of what the retiree contributed as 7.5 per cent between July 2004 and June 2014 or eight per cent of the salary from July 2014 till date of Retirement.

The purported total amount calculated includes accrued right being the accumulated gratuity for service rendered before the introduction of CPS.

Police Retirees are protesting because in Chile where this system is practised, the Armed Forces and the Police Force of that country are not included. But here in Nigeria, the Armed Forces and Police were included from its inception, and later, the Armed Forces and Intelligence Community were exited, living the Police Force behind till date.

The lump sum paid at the end of 35 years in service or 60 years of age is abysmally small and shameful. That is 25 per cent of what a retiree has as balance. Monthly pensions for police retirees under CPS between the ranks of Police Inspectors and Commissioners of Police are between the ranges of N18,000 and N75,000.

The policy currently offers three different pension schemes in the police organisation, Viz; a) Defined Benefit Scheme, b) Constables to Commissioners Pension Scheme and (c) the AIG to IGP Pension Scheme.

The last group retired with their 300 per cent last annual gross pay and 100 per cent of their last salary as monthly pension.

So the police retirees are protesting because what qualified the Armed Forces and Intelligence Community to be exempted from CPS equally qualifies the Police Force even more because she provides the leading internal security services more than any other security outfit in the country and suffers greater casualties than others in the face of attacks and internal defence. The police perform such other military duties within and outside the country as entrenched in the Police Act 2024 as amended.

The police retirees are protesting because the retirement benefits do not meet expectations on current economic realities and retirees are dying in their numbers daily, as they can?t take care of themselves, families and can?t contain with their respective health challenges.

The Contributory Pension Scheme is offensive in all ramifications, particularly when funds meant for retirees as severance benefits are held back in the name of investment, which draws no benefit to the owners, but to some class of elites.

Imagine PenCom claiming to have acquired assets under management to the tune of about N21 trillion being accrues from retirees money as at September 2024, but complained that it will cost the government about N3 trillion to settle the police out of CPS if Pension Board is created. So police retirees are the conduit pipe that make money for infrastructural development and loan depot of Nigeria.

I have led police retirees several times to the National assembly either for Investigative hearings in the Senate and House of Representatives, Peaceful Protests at NASS premises or Force headquarters or public hearings at both Senate and House of Representatives.

We have similarly been receiving unfulfilled promises from the legislatures, past and present. We came closer to victory during the 9th Assembly when the Bill to establish Police Pension Board sponsored by Senator Elisha Abboh was passed in the Senate but the sister bill in the House of Representatives sponsored by Hon. Rev Francis Waive was not harmonized as at the time that assembly rounded off her tenure.

Currently, the 10th Assembly have our Bills in both Green and Red chambers, but unfulfilled promises still hold sway despite repeated peaceful protest by police retirees, hence our continuous pressing on for liberation from the obnoxious policy.

The National Assembly has constitutional powers to make laws and to receive petitions, investigate and amend existing laws found to have been made in error. NASS is required just to amend Pension Reform Act 2014 section 5(1) (a) to include the Nigeria Police Force, immediately after the Armed Forces, among those exempted from CPS.

We have confidence that God will touch the hearts of our legislators to do the needful, particularly now that the Public and in particular the human rights activists have showed solidarity to our request.

We are still begging for this exemption and payment of our due benefits, including those families of our colleagues who lost their lives in the line of serving this nation. This will serve as a morale booster to serving members instead of the current demoralized situation with diminished productivity. If all advances fail, God forbid, then the last hope for a common man is the judiciary.

Laws are not made in retrospect. The nation of Chile commenced implementation of their new pension laws with new entrance into the service effective date approved, not the other way round as in our case in Nigeria where the goalpost was shifted in the middle of the match.

All I get after working for 35 years is peanuts ? Aliyu Sisa Lukman, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)

What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I am saying this because I retired from the police in 2023, after 35 years of meritorious service to the nation and all I get is peanuts as pension, compared to my colleagues who retired from the military.

You see, government is not sincere and they did not do well in their planning on the CPS. That scheme was created by government and all of us are supposed to be contributing to the scheme so that when you retired, you get paid.

Unfortunately while we fulfilled our parts in the contribution, the government did not fulfil their own part.

I started contributing to the scheme in 2003, till I retired from service in March 2023. Sadly my pension was paid to me after one year and eight months. Before I started collecting my money, they played a fast one on me because they gave me 25 per cent of my total money instead of 50 per cent.

My total contribution is N13 million while that of the government is N7.1 million. But do you know that they paid me N5.8 million as pension after 35 years in service? They placed me on N124,000 monthly balance. The worst part of the whole story is that the federal government adopted all federal workers in the CPS at the onset. But as time went on, they tactically removed the military from the list. As if that was not enough, they went ahead to remove the DSS and later the National Intelligence Agency from the list and abandoned the police.

My question is why didn?t they remove the police? Only the government holds the answer to this question.

We can?t pay rent, children?s school fees, can?t provide for our families ? Adegbami Akinroye retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)

My case is very pathetic. Do you know that I was paid my contribution pension nine years after I retired from service? I served the Nigerian police force for good 35 years and retired. And you know how much the paid me? They paid me N4million.

You can imagine what police pensioners are passing through and I am not alone in this dilemma. Many, many retired police officers are going through this gory situation and I cannot explain what is responsible for this other than to say it is pure wickedness and nothing more.

I received my first pension nine years after I left service. They are supposed to have briefed us about this CPS of a thing before we left service but they did not.

That the economic situation in the country is bad no longer news. What we are facing is not easy at all. Some of our colleagues cannot provide food for their families, pay house rent, hospital bills and meet other challenges. We don?t want to rebel against government, otherwise we know what to do. With the training that we have received from the police and years of experience, some retirees can go and be training criminals to carry out crime and cause more problem for the country. With the way things are, some people can also work on our colleagues who are still in service, brainwash them and advise them to look for other alternatives to make money because there is no life after retirement.

But we will not because if that happens, no policeman will give his best at work and as the major security outfit in the country, only God knows what the outcome would be. Because there will be lawlessness, breakdown of law and order and there will be no peace for the government to carry out their job.

To tell you the truth, there is no life after retirement for policemen after they retire from service because they suddenly turn beggars and our colleagues who are in service can attest to this because retired police officers daily storm the Force headquarters, state commands and police stations to beg their colleagues for money.

We faced agony in service, now facing more agony in retirement ? Dauda Adeshina, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)

To start with, I did not join the protest. But that does not mean that I do not support it. I support the protest 100 per cent because of the injustices the government has meted out to retired police officers. I cannot understand the justification as to why the government did not remove the police from the CPS.

In the first place, the military is not there, the DSS is not there, the NIA is not there and then the police that is the major security outfit is there. Why?

The police, whether you like it or not, is the first target in every security challenge before the military is called in. We daily lose our personnel. Many of our wives have become widows, children have become fatherless and many have been thrown out of their accommodation and schools as a result of these.

We face danger daily in our bid to provide peace and security for the nation and what do we get after retirement, neglect, agony. Agony in service, agony in retirement. All we are asking for is place police pension alongside other services, but government is so lukewarm about it.

I cannot understand why the government is so lukewarm to give this problem the desired attention. It has not been easy for any of us out there, because we are only surviving by the grace of God.

Govt should remove police from CPS ? Manir Lawal, retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP)

I want the government to as a matter of urgency exit police retirees from the pension scheme because it is exploitative and unjust. All we are asking is that the government should remove us from the CPS. The pension scheme is exploitative and unjust.

I am 67 years old. Many of us here are in our 60s and 70s. We have served this country faithfully and deserve to retire in dignity. This scheme has impoverished us. It is our right to demand better.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) told Saturday Sun on Wednesday it had not received any formal complaints or official communication regarding the protests by some retired police officers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). In a phone chat with one of our correspondents, the Head of Corporate Communications Department at PenCom said the commission had not been officially contacted or notified of any issues by the aggrieved parties.

The official advised that the concerns should be formally presented to the commission to allow it respond appropriately.

According to him, ?As far as I am aware, we have not received any formal communication on this matter. Nobody has written to us to complain specifically about the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

?We have not received anything officially. Those issues have not been communicated to PenCom for us to respond.

?Once we get anything like that, any complaint regarding the CPS, we will be in a position to respond.?

The CPS, which mandates monthly contributions from both employees and the government, has been the subject of criticism by some retired officers who claim the scheme does not meet their retirement needs.

What to know about police pension scheme

For years, the pension scheme for the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force has been a source of tension, dissatisfaction, and persistent agitations. While the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) introduced by the Pension Reform Act of 2004 was designed to eliminate pension fraud, delays, and inefficiencies, many police retirees argue that it has left them worse off. They are calling not for a reform, but for a complete departure from the CPS, a demand that many believe might have serious structural and financial repercussions for the nation.

From defined benefits to contributory pensions

Before 2004, Nigeria operated the Defined Benefits (DB) system, under which the government paid retirees directly from the treasury based on their rank, length of service, and final salary. While this model benefited certain retirees, it became financially unsustainable and riddled with mismanagement. The Pension Reform Act 2004 replaced the DB system with the CPS, which was further amended in 2014.

Under the new CPS framework, employees contribute eight percent of their salary monthly to their Retirement Savings Account (RSA), while the Federal Government contributes 10 per cent. At retirement, the accumulated sum is paid out through a lump sum, monthly programmed withdrawals, or a life annuity purchased from a licensed insurance company

All federal government employees, including police officers recruited from July 1, 2004, were automatically enrolled under the CPS. Those employed before the cut-off date were allowed to choose between remaining under the old scheme or switching to the new one.

NPF Pensions Limited: A tailored fund administrator

To address peculiarities of the police service, the Nigeria Police Force Pensions Limited (NPF Pensions Ltd) was licensed in 2014 to exclusively manage the RSAs of police personnel. As of 2023, NPF Pensions Ltd managed assets exceeding N900 billion for more than 300,000 police personnel (both active and retired).

Why police retirees want out

Despite the creation of a dedicated pension fund administrator, discontent persists, as many police retirees insist that the CPS shortchanges them. They claim that under the new scheme, retirees often receive monthly pensions ranging from N15,000 to N75,000, regardless of their rank or length of service. In contrast, officers who retired under the old scheme received gratuities of up to N7 million and monthly pensions as high as N130,000.

The retirees and serving officers have also complained that their pension benefits do not reflect the risk and sacrifices associated with police work, especially when compared with the exemptions granted to the military and intelligence agencies, who still operate under the Defined Benefits Scheme.

Public hearing and proposed exit bill

Last year, the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service held a public hearing on a bill sponsored by Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe (Adamawa South). The bill seeks to establish a Police Pension Board to manage police pensions independently and exempt the Nigeria Police Force from the CPS under the Pension Reform Act of 2014. At the hearing, several stakeholders made submissions. The Centre for Pension Rights Advocacy (CPRA), led by Ivo Takor, formally presented a memorandum expressing its opposition to the bill. The CPRA commended the Senate Committee for the opportunity to participate but warned that pulling the police out of the CPS could unravel nearly two decades of pension reforms.

N5 trillion at stake

According to data cited by financial experts and PenCom, granting the exemption could impose an annual financial burden of over N1.8 trillion, with long-term liabilities potentially exceeding N5 trillion. The implications, they warned, are massive, not only for government finances but for the stability of the pension system itself.

They argued that the CPS is credited with fostering transparency, ensuring timely payments, and growing pension assets that are now invested in infrastructure and the financial market. They also raised concerns that allowing the police to exit the plan, could lead to other agencies demanding similar treatment, thereby threatening the viability of the entire system.

Stakeholder opposition and reform options

The National Pension Commission (PenCom), Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have also all opposed the move. Their position is that reforms should happen within the CPS, not outside it. Some of the reform proposals being considered include: Increasing police salaries and allowances to boost pension contributions; amending the PRA 2014 to allow larger lump sum payments and enhancing programmed withdrawal structures to make pensions more sustainable, also is criminalizing delays in remittances and payments.

Legal and human rights perspective

The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has added a constitutional angle to the debate. In a diplomatic memo addressed to President Bola Tinubu and titled: ?A Diplomatic Appeal for Police Pension Welfare Reform in Line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,? the commission said the current CPS structure for police violates Sections 17(3)(f) and 34(1)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantee social justice and dignity. The IHRC demanded a special police pension board to restore equity and morale within the Force. (Saturday Sun)

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