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Police Pension Board: IGP Egbetokun’s Best Legacy By Adewole Kehinde

 “I am leaving this legacy behind to all of you; to bring unity, equality, love, and a realisation of how our lives should be. Without a vision, the people will fall, and without bravery and inspiration, dreams will die—the dream of freedom and peace.” – Rosa ParksOn Thursday, 4th July 2024, the Senate passed a bill that will give the Nigeria Police Force an exclusive pension board like the military.The passage of the bill titled “Police Pension Board (Establishment) Bill” by the Senate for a second reading was a sequel to the lead debate presented on it by the sponsor, Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe (PDP, Adamawa South), and the exhaustive debate made on it by many senators.Senator Yaroe, in his lead debate, said men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force are disadvantaged by being lumped with other public agencies under the contributory pension scheme managed by the Pension Commission, PENCOM, unlike other frontline security agencies like the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of State Security Services, DSS, Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, and the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.According to him, a cursory look at the difference between the pension and gratuity benefits of the Nigeria Police and her counterpart in the military showed that the benefit of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, under the current pension scheme is N2.5 million. At the same time, the equivalents in the Army (Captain), Navy (Lieutenant), Air Force (Flight Lieutenant), and DSS (Captain) are paid N12.8 million.According to him, this means that the Nigerian Police Force is receiving the equivalent of 19.5 per cent of the pension benefits of their colleagues in the sister agencies.“The broad objective of this bill is to bring equality, equity, and justice in the payment of pensions between the police and her sister agencies while boosting the morale of the serving personnel and equally enhancing the standard of living of retired personnel of the Nigerian Police Force.“The inclusion and continuous stay of the NPF in PENCOM has placed them on the wrong end of post-service emolument life despite being saddled with the responsibility of not only protecting the lives and property of the citizenry but also detecting, preventing, and investigating crimes as well as prosecuting offences,” he said.Virtually all the senators who contributed to the debate on the bill supported it and urged the Senate to fast-track its consideration and passage.In his remarks after the bill scaled second reading through voice vote, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, who presided over the session, said the intended legislation was very necessary for boosting the morale of men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force while in service ahead of a prosperous retirement life.“The bill is very important. The police are our number one law enforcement entity, and so we need to do all that is required to take care of them in respect of their pension.“They lay down their lives while we are asleep; they are awake to protect us and our properties, so we need to do our best in terms of their pension.“It is quite good, as suggested, that their pension should be in line with what is applicable in other sister agencies. What is good for the goose should also be good for the gander,” he said.He thereafter mandated the Senate Committee on Police Affairs to make more legislative inputs into it and report back in four weeks.I recall that President Bola Tinubu has said that he will ensure an immediate review of the pension and severance packages of retired police officers to reflect the enormity of their contributions and commitment to the country.He stated these during his address at the official launch of the Police Veterans’ Foundation at the headquarters of the Police Service Commission in Abuja on Tuesday, 5th March 2024.Tinubu said, “Supporting and assisting the police veterans is rather a moral imperative, not obligatory on the government at all levels, including well-meaning members of society.“I must acknowledge that without these veterans, Nigeria would have no doubt descended into a Hobbesian state of nature where life is brutish, nasty, and short, and only the fittest and strongest survive.“We are further reminded that the idea of citizenship carries with it a sense of responsibility and patriotic duty.“It is incumbent on us, therefore, to acknowledge the efforts, heroism, and sacrifice made by those who gave their all so that we may have peace and security in Nigeria.One of such responsibilities is supporting and sustaining the Police Veterans’ Foundation to enable the attainment of its noble objectives of giving a better life and hopes to our police retired officers that will cushion the effects and burdens of post-service challenges.“As the President of our dear country, I will not only give my full support to the Veterans Foundation but will also ensure that such areas as improving the pension and severance package of retired police officers are immediately reviewed to reflect the enormity of their contributions and commitment to our country.I also recall that IGP Egbetokun said that the Nigeria Police Force is working on improving pension earnings for its retired officers.Egbetokun announced this in Benin during his two-day working visit to Edo. According to him, the details of the earnings will soon be released for the officers to see.“We are working very hard on improving pension earnings for our retired officers. Very soon we are going to see the details,” he said.The inspector-general of police noted the force had various insurance schemes for officers, including the group life assurance scheme, group personal accident scheme, IGP family welfare scheme, and the Nigeria Police welfare insurance scheme.“The Federal Government is committed to improving police welfare, and we are also doing our best to ensure that policemen have improved welfare.“Recently, we launched the police housing scheme; the intention of having a police housing scheme is to provide affordable houses to all police officers across the ranks.“With what we have in place and what we are putting together, houses will be affordable for all police officers, such that you can’t serve the police for 35 years, retire, and not have a home.“That is what we are working on, and we are getting support from the Federal Government.“This is to show you that the government and the police administration are committed to improving welfare for all police officers,” said the police chief.Against the sponsored news that Nigeria will incur additional N2tn liabilities as the Senate passes the Police Pension Board Bill, it is false.The Police Pension Board will reposition the police away from poor service delivery as a result of the rigidity of the old order. It will also ensure that serving police personnel are better equipped to cope with the modern trend in policing and block all the leakages, waste, and loopholes.The Police Pension Board will reach enviable heights as the NPF Pension Managers ensure that retirees are paid their retirement benefits as and when due. They will cease the practice of over-delaying pensioners’ benefits experienced under the Contributory Pension Scheme.It will ensure the transparent and efficient management of police pension funds and encourage police personnel and retirees to invest in assets and financial instruments so that, at retirement, they can earn additional income from these assets and financial instruments to supplement their pension income. This will help them surmount the frustration orchestrated by poor pension fund administration.Similarly, retirees and police personnel will be encouraged to embark on continuous education and skills acquisition training as a way of preparing for life after retirement.The Police Pension Board will be automated to address issues of “ghost” beneficiaries and put stiffer measures in place to deter offenders.Where payments are not received when due, it becomes an infringement, and someone will be held accountable for this.Retired police personnel deserve more than what is currently being offered by the system, and I must commend the Inspector General of Police for working very hard to improve retired officers’ pension earnings.As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signs the Police Pension Board bill, it will be one of the best legacies of IGP Kayode Egbetokun, as this will ensure the principles of sustainability, safety, and security of benefits, transparency, accountability, equity, flexibility, inclusivity, uniformity, and practicability of the Police Pension.On the Police Pension Board Bill, IGP Kayode Egbetokun is truly the man of the moment and a promise keeper.Adewole Kehinde is the publisher of Swift Reporters, based in Abuja, and can be reached at 08166240846. 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