Retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force under the umbrella of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF) staged a protest at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, demanding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sign the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly.
The bill, which seeks to remove the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), was passed in December 2025 and transmitted to the Presidency in March 2026.
The protesters, led by CSP Raphael Irowainu, marched from the Three Arms Zone through major streets around the Police Headquarters before blocking Gate 8 of the Presidential Villa.
Carrying placards and national flags, they described the continued inclusion of police retirees in the CPS as unjust and harmful.
According to the group, the system remains unfair compared to other security agencies that have already been exited. CSP Irowainu stated:
“Our major aim here is to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign our bill, the bill exiting the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme passed by the National Assembly on 4th December 2025 and transmitted to him on 16th March, 2026, into law, nothing more than that.”
He further argued that agencies such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, SSS, and NIA have already exited the scheme, leaving police retirees behind in what he described as an unjust system.
“The soldiers have been exited, the SSS has been exited, the Air Force has been exited, the Navy has been exited, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has been exited. The police, who are the father of them all, are trapped in this obnoxious Contributory Pension Scheme,” he added.
The protesters, some accompanied by family members, sat and lay on the ground in front of the gate, singing solidarity songs and insisting on seeing the President. Security personnel at the Villa were unable to disperse them, as they maintained their position peacefully.
As of the time of filing this report, no official response had been received from the Presidency.
This is not the first time retired police officers have taken to the streets over pension-related grievances. Similar protests were held in previous years at the National Assembly and Force Headquarters, where retirees demanded removal from the CPS.
At the time, former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, acknowledged concerns over welfare but stated that exiting the scheme could not be implemented immediately, while urging calm and caution against misinformation.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
