•Retired police officers protest in Abuja
Retired Police Officers Forum of Nigeria has given President Bola Ahmed Tinubu till June 19, 2026, to assent to the Police Exit Bill, which has been passed by the National Assembly, for them to exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS).
They noted that the National Assembly had passed the bill since December 4, 2025, and subsequently transmitted it to the President on March 16, 2026, reports Daily Independent.
Addressing journalists today in Akure, Ondo State capital, the National Coordinator of the Forum, Raphael Irowainu, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police(CSP), said if President Tinubu signed the bill into Law, he would be making one of the most impactful security decisions because he would be restoring institutional parity and strengthening inter-agency morale and cooperation.
The Forum dissociated itself from an alleged five-man committee allegedly negotiating with PENCOM on an alternative proposal to exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Irowainu said: “Following extensive consultations with retired Police officers across six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, I have been mandated to announce, in the clearest possible terms, that retired police officers in Nigeria have neither authorized nor endorsed any negotiation intended to substitute, dilute, compromise, or undermine our collective demand for total exit from PENCOM Contributory Pension Scheme.”
But the forum expressed confidence in President Tinubu describing him as “a leader renowned for fairness, courage, and commitment to justice” that he “will graciously assent to the Police Exit Bill already passed by the National Assembly and currently awaiting Presidentially Assent.”
The National Coordinator of the Forum said: “Our confidence is founded on the undeniable fact that sister security and intelligence agencies perform comparable national security responsibilities, including the Armed Forces, the Department of State Services(DSS), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), operate under the Defined Benefits Scheme and are not subjected to the hardships and uncertainties associated with the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“We, therefore, respectfully urge Mr. President not to be swayed by any narrative, representation, or purported consensus that suggests retired police officers have accepted any alternative arrangements in place of total exit from PENCOM.
“The voices of retired police officers across Nigeria are united, clear, and unmistakable. Our demand remains a total exit from PENCOM.
“The immediate demands are that the President should give assent to the Police Exit Bill currently on his table, total exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme, migration from the Contributory Pension Scheme to the Defined Benefits Pension Scheme (DPS) for the Nigeria Police Force, establishment of Police Pension Board similar to that of Military Pension Board, and payment of all accrued rights and arrears to police retirees.”
However, the Forum said that if their demands are not met by June 19, 2026, they would storm the National Assembly again.
According to Irowainu, there are about 35 million retired police officers affected by the poor pension scheme.
