Andy Esiet , Calabar
As Nigeria Police Retirees (NPR) have lost over 500 of its members since the introduction of the obnoxious contributory pension scheme (CPS), an urgent call has gone to President Bola Tinubu to assent to the recent bill by the 9th National Assembly for the establishment of the Nigeria Police Pension Board that exited them from CPS.
The retirees in a press statement on Monday signed by its National Coordinator, Mr. Christopher Effiong, it’s National Legal Adviser, Mr. Ofem Abang and the Vice Chairman, Cross River state chapter, Mr. Iwara Ibiang thanking the National Assembly for passing the bill emancipating them from CPS managed by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), also called on President Tinubu to probe the N13.6 trillion the Director General of PENCOM, Aisha Dahir-Umar told the National Assembly that it was invested on the scheme and the retirees.
The retirees said, “as a result of this contributory pension scheme introduced by the Federal Government during the period of President Olusegun Obasanjo, we have lost many lives and many are bedridden up till today from date of retirement. Some even collapsed hearing what they are going to pass through and are bedridden because of stroke resulting from hypertension.
“We have lost over 500 retired police officers and more than 300 are bedridden. They can’t have money to seek medical attention because there is no money, especially as most of them are retired and their children are in secondary schools. They cannot even afford to pay their children school fees. Even as a DSP you retire and you go home with a little above N30, 000 whereas under the benefits scheme you should go home with over. N150, 000 monthly pension”.
They argued that, “att old age we need money to take care of our health. We need money to keep ourselves busy so that we will not collapse. In fact, we have gone through so much suffering and problems because of this thing. And we don’t know why the DG PENCOM is insisting to control the fund… no slave master allows a slave to escape, and no kidnapper allows somebody who have been kidnapped to go free except there’s intervention, and that intervention can only come from the National Assembly. We are urging the National Assembly, the Federal Government and all the institutions involve to ignore the propaganda of the DG PENCOM because she wants to continue to keep police under enslavement”.
They said the present condition of the Nigeria Police retirees under the contributory pension scheme falls short of anything good of the scheme and the N13 . 6 trillion investment by PENCOM has not impacted on the police retirees and “it is proper that the PENCOM is probed because that money is sufficient enough to cater for the needs of over 44,300 retired police officers under the scheme.
“From all our findings, this money must have been invested, because usually they supposed to invest this money appropriately and then allow the beneficiaries to have something reasonable to take home. By the probe we will unearth whatever they money would have been used for” .
They said the passage of the bill is a good development as “the entire Police formation as well as retirees and their families went agog at the breaking news as the 9th Assembly made a bold step to formally announced the passage of the bill for the establishment of the Nigeria Police Pension Board to exit the Nigeria Police Force from the obnoxious contributory pension scheme and return to the Force to the Defined Benefit Scheme which their counterparts in the military and DSS have enjoyed for years now”.
While thanking the 9th senate and it’s leadership for passing the bill, they said, “with the deepest sense of humanity we call on His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Sen. Bola Ahmed Tunibu GCFR to graciously assent to the bill and give members of the Nigeria Police Force and the Retirees a new lease of life.
“However, we wish to admonish mischief makers and all who have stood as clogs on the wheel of progress to ground their tools. To put the record straight, we are compelled to state categorically that:
“ The postulations of Rufai Oseni of Arise TV, that the Federal Government will be incurring over N2 trillion for Police Officers and urging Mr. President not to sign the bill is mischievous and a calculated attempt to undermine the capacity and sincerity of the new administration of President Tinubu to the plight of Nigerians.
“Rufai was only orchestrating the evil machinations of the desperate DG PENCOM Aisha Dahir-Umar as both did not consider the fact that all Police Officers are not retiring on the same date to warrant such huge expenditure as imagined.
“The claim that a Federal Government White Paper alluding that only the military was allowed by the federal government to opt out of the contributory pension scheme was deceptive and misleading too. Our position was well articulated before the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly which after diligent scrutiny and discovering the truth, have no option but to pass the bill for the President’s assent”.
