Retired police officers in Ogun State have taken their campaign for a new pension arrangement back to the streets, calling on President Bola Tinubu to assent to legislation seeking to remove the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The protesters, under the Police Retired Officers Forum, marched through Abeokuta on Tuesday, marking another phase of a campaign that has stretched for months.
Their demand centres on a bill passed by the National Assembly that seeks to establish a dedicated Nigeria Police Pension Board and exempt police personnel from the CPS. National Assembly records show that legislation for a Police Pension Board has passed through the federal legislative process.
The proposed arrangement would create a separate institutional structure for administering pensions and retirement benefits of police personnel, replacing the present framework under which police officers participate in the contributory system.
Carrying placards, the retirees appealed to Tinubu and Governor Dapo Abiodun to support their demand. One inscription read, “Governor Dapo Abiodun, help us beg President Tinubu to exit us, please.” Another declared support for the withdrawal of the police from the CPS and the creation of a Police Pension Board.
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Speaking during the demonstration, the assistant coordinator of the forum in Ogun, Oyekunle Oyetola, said the protest was part of the group’s sustained campaign for a change in the pension structure.
“We are using this protest to mark one year of our agitation. Since the National Assembly passed the bill, President Bola Tinubu is yet to assent to it,” Oyetola said.
He added, “We are begging the President to sign the bill, remove us from PenCom and establish a Police Pension Board to take care of our pensions.”
At the centre of the retirees’ complaint is the value of their post-service income amid rising living and healthcare costs.
Oyetola said inflation had made it increasingly difficult for some former officers to pay for food and medical treatment. He also linked the financial strain to deaths among members of the group, although that claim was made by the retirees and was not independently established in the report.
The demand is not new. Retired police officers have staged similar protests in Ogun and other parts of the country this year, while national representatives have repeatedly called for presidential assent to the Police Exit Bill.
The pension dispute also has a longer institutional history. PenCom has previously defended the contributory system while acknowledging concerns over the retirement benefits available to police personnel. In July, PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran said the commission was working with relevant authorities on improved benefits rather than supporting the police exit from the CPS.
PenCom’s position reflects the central policy question in the dispute: whether police retirement concerns should be addressed by improving benefits within the existing contributory framework or by creating a separate pension system.
The National Assembly has previously documented concerns about the adequacy of police retirement benefits and compared them with arrangements covering some other security institutions.
For the retirees in Abeokuta, however, the immediate issue is presidential action on the legislation.
Their protest has therefore shifted the pension debate from legislative chambers to the streets, with former officers pressing for a decision on whether the Nigeria Police Force should continue under the CPS or receive a separate pension structure.
