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…as lawmakers insist key concerns have been settled

By Gloria Ikibah

The House Committees on Police Affairs and Pensions have called on retired police officers camping outside the National Assembly to return home, assuring them that their long-standing grievances are already being resolved.

Naijablitznews.com reports that for nearly two months, the pensioners have remained at the main gate of the National Assembly in protest over their continued inclusion in the contributory pension scheme administered by the Pension Commission.

During a joint media briefing on Wednesday, House Spokesperson, Rep. Akin Rotimi, alongside the Chairman Committee on Police Affairs, Rep. Makke Yalleman, and Chairman Committee on Pensions, Rep. Hussaini Jallo, explained that the matter at the heart of the protest has now been addressed.

The lawmakers revealed that the House has passed the bill establishing the Police Pension Board, which paves the way for removing police retirees from the contributory scheme.

The proposed legislation is expected to move to the Senate shortly for concurrence before being sent to the President for approval.

Reps. Yalleman added that the House leadership will engage directly with the Senate to ensure the bill receives swift consideration.

“We are mourning our colleague in the Senate who died this morning. But God’s willing, I’m assuring you by next week, this bill is going to the president for assent.

“And we want to draw your attention, the media, to help us engage those veteran police officers who have been sleeping outside for weeks here. So, please talk to them and explain to them. We have passed their demands and senators are ready to concur and send it to president for assent”, Yalleman stated.

Also speaking, Rep. Hussaini Jalo said: “What the police is requesting for falls under my committee. Just like my senior colleague has said, we have met all their demands. First reading, second reading, and clause by clause consideration and the reading has been done and transmitted to the Senate.

“A bill for an act to establish the Nigerian Police Post-Pension Board charged with the responsibility of administering the pension scheme for the personnel of the force and exempt the force from the application of the contributive pension scheme under the Pension Reform Act 2014 and for other related matters, HB 979”, has been passed and transmitted to the Senate.

“Now it is being waited for concurrence by the Senate then to be sent to the President for his assent. Those protesting at the gate know everything we have done. Me and my colleagues and by extension, the House of Representatives, the speaker and other principal officers have done a lot.

“And I believe, since the House of Representatives has done it, there is no need for them to continue being at the gate agitating. My plea to them is to leave the protest and go back to their houses because by the grace of God, the bill will be a thing of the past.

“The police want to exit from PENCOM, the Contributory Pension Scheme. They just want to be on their own, just like the Military Pensions Board, DSS Pensions, NIA Pensions, CDI Pensions and the rest. And that is what the House has done already.

“So my call to them is to exercise more restraint and patience and go back to their houses. The Inspector General of Police and the DG PENCOM are doing everything possible to see that this thing come to an end. And very soon, even the DG Pension, the Inspector General of Police has convened a meeting with the Chairman of Committee on Police myself, our counterparts in the Senate and PENCOM”, he stated.

Naijablitznews.com reports that when assented to by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the law will exempt personnel of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme by amending section 5(1a) of the Pension Reforms Act 2014 by adding the Nigerian Police Force to the section.

The law establishes a Nigeria Police Pensions Board to be headed by a Director General who shall be a serving police officer not below the tank of an Assistant Inspector of Police and a Secretary who will also be a senior police officer who must have been called to the Nigerian Bar with not less than 10 years post call experience.

The Board is expected to take over the payment of gratuities and pensions of retired police officers from the National Pension Commission abs cause the adjustment of their pensions ans gratuity to be commensurate with the provisions of the law.