Daniel Otera
Grey-haired, weather-beaten, and soaked in the early morning downpour, dozens of retired police officers stood defiantly at the gates of the National Assembly on Monday, demanding their removal from Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which they described as a system that has left them “destitute after decades of national service.”
Clad in worn-out jackets and berets, the former officers carried placards bearing messages such as “CPS is a Death Sentence,” “We Deserve Better,” and “35 Years of Service, Now Suffering?” as they chanted protest songs under heavy rain. The demonstration, which drew retirees from across the country, remained peaceful as security operatives monitored the crowd.
“We are not here for politics or violence,” said retired Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Manir Lawal, who led the protest. “We are here to demand justice. The CPS is exploitative and unjust. I’m 67 years old. Many of us here are in our sixties and seventies. We served this country with our lives. Now we are treated like burdens.”
The protest once again brought national attention to the long-running debate over the CPS, particularly among retired personnel of the Nigeria Police Force and other paramilitary agencies.
Introduced under the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and amended in 2014, the CPS was designed to replace the old Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). It aimed to promote transparency, reduce corruption in pension administration, and ensure sustainable retirement income.
Under the scheme, workers contribute a minimum of 8% of their basic salary, while employers contribute 10%, which are remitted to Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and managed in individual Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs).
But for many retired officers, the reality has fallen short of the intended reforms.
A 2023 report by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) revealed that while over 10.1 million Nigerians are enrolled in the scheme, fewer than 20% of security retirees receive consistent monthly disbursements. The report also noted that more than ₦182 billion in employer contributions were outstanding as of Q3 2023, largely due to defaulting government agencies.
An investigative report by Daily Trust in late 2023 highlighted delays in disbursement by PFAs, with some retirees receiving as little as ₦13,000–₦15,000 monthly, despite decades of public service.
For the protesting retirees, the issue is not just about statistics, it is about survival.
“They keep promising reform, but we keep dying,” said retired Assistant Superintendent of Police Baba Sule, originally from Kano but now residing in Abuja. “How can someone who served 35 years in the force receive peanuts? What kind of retirement is that? Some of us are already on medication. This system is killing us slowly.”
According to field data compiled by the National Union of Police Retirees, and corroborated by Punch and The Guardian, the average monthly pension for low-ranking retired officers ranges between ₦20,000 and ₦35,000, depending on rank and years of service. These figures, many pensioners argue, are grossly inadequate especially when compared with Nigeria’s current national minimum wage of ₦70,000.
“How can a retired Assistant Superintendent of Police earn ₦30,000 after 35 years of service?” Baba Sule asked. “Some of us even receive less, yet we still have families to feed and hospital bills to pay. This is not retirement, it is punishment.”
Another retiree, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Journal that he had resorted to commercial motorcycle riding, despite being over 65 years old.
“I get ₦13,400 from my pension account. It’s not enough for food, let alone rent or hospital. I have three grandchildren in my house. This is not retirement, it is punishment,” he said.
In recent years, pressure has intensified for the Federal Government to exempt the Nigeria Police Force and other paramilitary agencies from the CPS due to growing discontent among retired officers.
A 2024 position paper published by Inspenonline, endorsed by representatives of the police, immigration, customs, and civil defence, argued that these agencies operate under distinct service conditions such as early retirement ages, high-risk deployments, and postings to conflict zones which justify a return to the Defined Benefit Scheme or a customised retirement structure for uniformed personnel.
“The CPS does not reflect the sacrifice and peculiar service conditions of the security services,” the paper noted. “There is a need for a compassionate and customised retirement model that prioritises their welfare.”
The national debate has intensified. In a March 2024 editorial, Punch described the government’s handling of the crisis as an act of “callous indifference” to the plight of those who once risked their lives to defend Nigeria.
“A nation that neglects those who once carried guns to protect it,” the editorial stated, “is digging a dangerous moral grave.”
The protest by retired police officers in Abuja mirrors similar demonstrations across the country, highlighting a broader national crisis in Nigeria’s pension system.
In May 2025, pensioners in Benue State gathered at the Government House in Makurdi, demanding the payment of over ₦28 billion in accumulated entitlements. Led by the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), the demonstrators decried over 25 months of unpaid pensions and gratuities.
Across the country in Cross River State, another group of pensioners held protests over similar delays. Meanwhile, in Niger State, local government retirees threatened to sue the state government over an alleged ₦14 billion pension backlog. According to a 2022 report by ThisDay, more than 14,200 retirees in the state were yet to receive their statutory entitlements.
A 2023 report by BudgIT revealed that at least 11 Nigerian states, including Kogi, Benue, and Nasarawa, had consistently failed to remit deducted pension contributions, despite budgeting for them.
In a separate report by Vanguard, it was disclosed that 21 states collectively owed over ₦790 billion in unpaid pensions and gratuities as of October 2023, with Benue and Niger ranked among the worst defaulters.
As the protesters waited under the rain, no National Assembly official had addressed them directly as of press time.
“We are too old to be ignored,” one elderly protester remarked, gripping a soggy placard. “If they won’t fix the pension scheme for us, they should remove us from it. Let us retire in peace.”