The National Coordinator of the Police Retired Officers Forum (PROF), retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Raphael Irowainu, has announced June 29, 2026, as the date for a fresh protest by retired police officers over pension-related grievances.
Irowainu disclosed this in a protest notice sent to SaharaReporters on Sunday.
The planned protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations by retired police officers demanding the removal of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and urging President Bola Tinubu to sign the Police Exit Bill into law.
Earlier, the retired police officers had urged President Tinubu to promptly assent to the Police Exit Bill, warning that failure to sign it before June 22, 2026, would lead to renewed nationwide protests.
The bill, officially known as the Nigeria Police Force Pension Board Bill, seeks to exempt police personnel from the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014 and establish a dedicated pension board for the force.
The legislation has already been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and transmitted to President Tinubu for assent.
Retired officers under the PROF have repeatedly criticised the Contributory Pension Scheme, describing it as “inhumane,” “fraudulent,” and “slavery.”
According to the group, many retired officers receive inadequate retirement benefits after decades of service, with some retirees allegedly receiving lump-sum payments of between ₦3 million and ₦4 million and monthly pensions ranging from ₦30,000 to ₦50,000.
The retirees have also argued that the continued inclusion of police personnel in the CPS amounts to discrimination, noting that other security and intelligence agencies, including the Armed Forces, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), have already been exempted from the scheme.
They further contend that poor retirement benefits negatively affect the morale and welfare of serving officers.
If signed into law, the bill would establish a Nigeria Police Force Pension Board to administer police pensions independently of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The proposed framework would also provide a pension structure under which retired officers would be entitled to 85 per cent of their total active emoluments as pension benefits.
The latest protest follows a similar demonstration held in Abuja in April, during which retired police officers marched through the Three Arms Zone and blocked access to Gate 8 of the Presidential Villa while demanding presidential assent to the bill.
Led by Irowainu, the protesters carried placards and accused the government of subjecting police retirees to an unjust pension regime.
Speaking during the April protest, Irowainu said the group’s primary demand was for President Tinubu to sign the Police Exit Bill, which he noted had already been passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the Presidency.
He argued that while personnel of other security agencies had been removed from the CPS, police officers remained subjected to what he described as an unfair system.
The retirees maintained that the proposed law would free police personnel from what they called a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”
(SaharaReporters)
