SENATOR YAROE CANVASSES FOR A SEPARATE PENSION BOARD FOR THE NIGERIAN POLICE
Adamawa South Senatorial Zone’s Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe on Tuesday at a Senate public hearing on the police pension reform bill, highlighted the need for a separate pension board for the Nigeria Police Force.
He argued that the current system, where police pensions are managed alongside other public agencies, puts police personnel at a disadvantage.
Senator Yaroe emphasized the importance of having a dedicated pension arrangement for the police, considering their unique role in maintaining national security. His bill, “Police Pension Board (Establishment) Bill,” aims to address this issue and provide better pension management for the Police Force.
The police pension reform bill is a significant piece of legislation aimed at enhancing the lives of Nigerian police officers and retirees. The bill, which was passed by the Senate in May 2023, seeks to establish a Police Pension Board, effectively removing police personnel from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and returning them to the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS)
Under the DBS, the government is solely responsible for paying pensions to retirees, based on their years of service, retirement age, and terminal salary. This is in contrast to the Contributory Pension Scheme, where both the employer and employee contribute to pension and retirement benefits.
The push for this reform stems from concerns over corruption and mismanagement within the Nigeria Police Pension Office, as well as the meagre retirement benefits offered under the ContributoryPensionScheme
. For instance, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) currently receive monthly pensions of ₦25,000 and ₦29,000, respectively, which is significantly lower than what they would receive under the DBS.
While some stakeholders, including the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, have expressed concerns about the potential costs of the bill, others, like the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Sanusi Lemu, believed it would boost morale among police officers.
