Retired Police Officers, Wives Protest In Abuja Over Pension Bill
Retired police officers and their wives, on Wednesday staged a protest at the National Assembly in Abuja, demanding that President Bola Tinubu assent to a bill seeking to exempt the Nigeria Police Force from the…
The protest centres on long-running agitation by police retirees for exemption from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which was introduced under the Pension Reform Act to replace the old defined-benefit pension system for public servants. Critics within the security sector have argued that the CPS, which ties retirement payouts to market-based contributions, is ill-suited to the police given the risks of the job and the often-delayed or reduced lump sums retirees receive compared to the immediate, defined pay-outs under the previous scheme. The military and some other security agencies have in the past secured similar exemptions, a precedent police unions and retirees frequently cite in pushing for the same treatment.
Both Leadership and Daily Trust report that the protesters gathered at the National Assembly specifically to press President Bola Tinubu to sign a bill that would take the police out of the CPS. Neither report provides details on the bill's legislative history, when it was passed by the National Assembly, or how long it has awaited presidential assent, leaving open questions about the timeline and the reasons for any delay in signing it into law.