The Senate has passed for a second reading a Bill aimed at removing police retirees from the Contributory Pension Scheme under the National Pension Commission (PenCom). The Bill proposes to establish the Nigeria Police Pensions Board, aligning the pension benefits of police retirees with those of other security agencies.
Sponsored by Senator Binos Yaroe (PDP, Adamawa-South), the Bill seeks to address the disparity in pension benefits between the police and their counterparts in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Department of State Services (DSS). Yaroe argued that while police officers face significant responsibilities in crime detection and prevention, their pension benefits are substantially lower than those of their peers in other security services.
Yaroe highlighted the inequity by comparing the pensions of different ranks: a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) receives N2.5 million, whereas an equivalent rank in the Army (Captain) receives N12.8 million. This stark difference underscores the need for the proposed reform, which aims to provide police retirees with fair and just pension benefits.
Senators expressed unanimous support for the Bill, which, after further readings and presidential assent, will remove the police from the current PenCom scheme. The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, presided over the session and approved the Bill's progression to the next legislative stage.
