Retirees of the Nigerian Police have urged the National Assembly to ignore the position of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, on the Police Pension Board Establishment Bill (PPBEB).
The bill, which is before the National Assembly, is meant for police retirees to exit the PenCom Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) just like their contemporaries in the Army, DIA, and DSS amongst others.
Their appeal was contained in a petition to the National Assembly, signed by the vice chairman of Delta state chapter, Mr. Bright Kakada, the Federal Capital City chapter chairman, Mr. Abayimi Akeremale, chairman Cross River chapter, Mr. Chris Effiong, the Legal Adviser, Elder Ofem Bang and 22 others.
The petition, which was sighted by our reporter in Calabar, weekend, stated that: “The police should be exempted from the CPS like the Army, DIA, and DSS,” and argued that “the legislative function of amending Sec. 5 (1)(a)PRA 2014 to accommodate the NPF by the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) had attained an advanced stage before both chambers went on recess in July 2022, to resume plenary on 20/09/2022.”
They alleged that the SGF “breached all protocols guiding devolution of power to constitute a parallel legislature with the DG PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, on which platform he wrote the letter under reference: 59149/S.1/C.1/11 dated 21ST July, 2022 to the IGP, Usman Alkali Baba, to keep on hold any effort at getting Sec. 5 (i)(a) PRA 2014 amended to accommodate the Nigeria Police Force.”
They expressed the surprise that the “SGF, whose radius is within the executive arm of government, could have the impetus to exceed the limits of his authority, such authority, as far as we are concerned, is irrational and illegal.”
The retirees said the SGF’s letter “was copied to the DG PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, the Police Service Commission, the Senate President, the Speaker, House of Representatives and the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Pensions.”
The Retirees further reasoned that, “a public hearing where most Nigerians from various walks of life demonstrated solid support for the exit of the NPF from the obnoxious CPS cannot be thwarted by intimidation from the SGF. There is no way the duo of the DG PenCom and the SGF can subject the integrity of the Senate and House of Representatives to disrepute over an inconsequential and ineffective letter.”
