Senate President Akpabio Assures Police Retirees Of Exit From Contributory Pension Scheme

The Senate President told the retired police officers that the issue would be given a speedy hearing and concurrence with the House of Representatives, which had earlier passed the bill.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has assured protesting retired police officers who besieged the gate of the National Assembly over their inclusion in the contributory pension scheme that they would be exited from the scheme.

Akpabio gave the assurance during a courtesy visit by the leadership of the retired police officers to his office on Thursday.

The Senate President told the retired police officers that the issue would be given a speedy hearing and concurrence with the House of Representatives, which had earlier passed the bill.

“The policy, from what you have told us, was not well thought out. But take it that you have to disperse from the gate, that problem, as far as the law is concerned, is over.

On Tuesday next week, we will concur with what the House of Representatives has done and produce an act exiting you from the scheme.

“I know that President Bola Tinubu, being a listening president, will sign it into law. The scheme is certainly not good for security personnel.

”If the military, DSS, NIA and others had exited, I see no reason why the police should remain, while those in the echelon of the service are out of it.

You all fought insecurity together. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. We will ensure that the scheme is same from the IG to the last constable.

“Sometimes, our country is fantastic in copying policies and not thinking out the implications if implemented. And if that was done, many of you wouldn’t have died. We always compare oranges with apples,” the senate president said.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that the retired Nigerian Police Force (NPF) officers, otherwise known as the “warrior retirees,” scaled the gate of the National Assembly on Wednesday, demanding a meeting with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the retired police officers were seen attempting to scale the gate of the National Assembly after security personnel locked it to prevent them from entering.

The retirees had insisted that all conditions for the bill’s passage had long been met. 

Public hearings conducted by both the 9th and 10th National Assemblies overwhelmingly favoured the measure, which mirrors earlier exits from the CPS by the Military, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

High Chief Onyeike Chukwuma, a retired Superintendent of Police, had told SaharaReporters on Thursday that surviving police retirees should not continue to be subjugated to a scheme that he described as “genocidal.” 

He emphasised that NPF retirees have already paid the supreme price, risking their lives, liberty, and rights to defend Nigeria against terrorists and bandits.

No country in the World subjects its Police Retirees to the apron-strings and Whims and Caprices of the Selfish and greedy Profit oriented CPS after their hazardous nature of Service” Chukwuma said, noting that even Chile, from which Nigeria copied the CPS, respects the welfare of its retired officers.