By Asuquo Cletus
Retired police officers have dismissed assurances by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) of sweeping reforms in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), insisting instead on a total exit and the establishment of a Police Pension Board.
At a stakeholders’ meeting with retirees from the South-South zone held on Tuesday at the Police Officers’ Mess, Calabar, the Director-General of PENCOM, Omolola Oloworaran, pledged that “big reforms” were underway to address the plight of retired policemen. She hinted at proposals to government for improved benefits, including 100 percent gratuity and monthly pensions of up to 100 percent of officers’ final salaries.
But the retirees, many of whom chanted “give us our rights” throughout the session, flatly rejected the offer, describing the current CPS as fraudulent, exploitative, and unsustainable.
Speaking on behalf of the retirees, the National Legal Officer, DSP (Barr) Ofem Mbang (Rtd), said: “We want total exit. We have been deceived enough. Eating police pension money is blood money. Many of us have died and many others are bedridden because of what we are passing through. We want a permanent structure, not palliatives.”
The ex-officers compared their entitlements to those of military counterparts, lamenting that while a Warrant Officer in the Army earns about ₦200,000 monthly in retirement, a Police Inspector takes home as little as ₦18,000. “This is fraud. A Commissioner of Police retires on ₦70,000 while a Major General, his equivalent, goes home with about ₦800,000,” Mbang fumed.
Other retirees accused Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) of profiteering from their contributions. “In MPF Pensions Ltd, nobody earns less than ₦500,000, yet a retired DSP goes home with ₦35,000. We want a Police Pension Board to manage our pension under a Defined Benefit Scheme,” one speaker declared.
Responding to the grievances, Oloworaran urged the retirees to give President Bola Tinubu’s administration a chance, stressing that the government was committed to addressing pension arrears and improving welfare for security personnel. “We know what you are getting is too small. I totally agree with you,” she said, while promising to take their demands to the presidency.
She however warned that reforms might not take the exact shape the retirees desired. “Sometimes the child asks for six things, but the father knows what is best. At the end, the child still gets what is right,” she noted, adding that a three-month timeline had been set for initial reforms.
But the retirees stood their ground, with National Coordinator of CPS Retirees, SP Christopher Effiong (Rtd), saying: “After 35 years of service, what we got is a breach of our constitutional rights. The CPS has failed us. If the majority says exit, then we exit.”
