Retired police officers demand exemption from contributory pensions scheme
Ani Bassey
The National Legal Adviser of Police retirees under the Contributory Pensions Scheme Ofem Mbang says the present CPS has enslaved retired officers in Nigeria.
Mbang disclosed this in Calabar during a meeting between retired police officers in the South South region with the Director General of the National Pensions Commission Ms. Omolola Oloworaran.
He enumerated several challenges and privations police retirees have been subjected to under the scheme and specifically demanded their total exemption from the NPF Pensions Ltd.
“Police retirees want total exemption from the CPS. We also don’t want the NPF Pensions limited which is a private company limited by shares to run our pension and gratuity issues.
“We want the Police Pension Board to administer our pension and gratuity issues because they will get subvention from the government as against the NPF Pension limited that will draw their entitlements, travelling allowance contingency, imprest, buying of vehicles from our pension.
“They are eating blood money and money from dead officers and have by their actions also put us into enslavement”, he said.
He said their licenses should be revoked so that can go into other businesses to make money for themselves rather than feeding fat from the benefits of retired police officers who sacrificed a lot for the country.
Also speaking, Christopher Effiong, Chairman of the Cross River State Chapter of Police pensioners, decried the present system calling it a ruse.
“After serving our country for many years, we came out and discovered that CPS is a ruse.
“We have discovered that the constitutional provision for pension states that upon retirement you will by paid 300% of your last annual gross pay as gratuity or 80% of your last salary as your monthly pension.
“When we came out it was not so. What they gave us was a quarter of what they called the reserve in our retirement savings scheme and this serves no purpose.
“We need to go back to the Defined Benefit Scheme or the Police Pension Board so we can have our entitlements as those who served Nigeria”, he said.
Director General of the National Pensions Commission Ms. Omolola Oloworaran said they will see how the pension scheme will work best for the police officers.
She insisted that the police retirees are fighting for a righteous cause and the commission will ensure that the cause the police are fighting for is fulfilled.
“At the end of the day we will work this out and the police will be happy with the solutions that will be provided”, she said.
She also assured the pensioners that the 758 billion naira bond approved by President Tinubu for pensioners will soon be issued.
