The national assembly will legally withdraw protesting retired police officers from the contributory pension plan (CPS) next week, Senate President Godswill Akpabio has promised.
Akpabio welcomed the retirees in his office on Thursday. The retirees have been demonstrating against their inclusion in the plan for weeks at the National Assembly Complex entrance.
The House of Representatives passed a bill exempting the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) from the CPS, and Akpabio declared that the Senate will quickly follow suit.
According to a statement released by Jackson Udom, the Senate President’s special assistant on media, Akpabio stated that the policy was “not well thought out” and had caused needless difficulty for police officers who put their lives in danger to protect the nation.
“I understand that you must leave the gate. In terms of the law, that issue has been resolved,” he declared.
“We will produce an Act removing you from the Scheme on Tuesday of next week, in accordance with what the House of Representatives has done.”
The president of the Senate expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would sign the bill into law because he is “being a listening president.”
The plan is “certainly not good for security personnel,” he declared.
Akpabio questioned why other security agencies, like as the military, DSS, and NIA, were free from the CPS while the police remained under it.
He continued, “I see no reason why the Police should stay while those in the echelon of the service are out if the Military, DSS, NIA, and others have left.”
“Together, you all battled insecurity. The gander benefits from what benefits the goose. From the IG to the final constable, we will make sure that the scheme remains the same.
He insisted that the CPS had harmed many police retirees, saying that Nigeria frequently “copies policies without thinking through their implications.”
The retirees’ leader, Mannir Lawal Zaria, praised the senate president for giving them a hearing and expressed optimism that their long-standing pension requests would soon be met.
