CPS: Police Leadership Wades Into Bill To Exempt Personnel

Years after swelling opposition against police personnel’s inclusion in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force has stated its position on the controversial development as the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun kicked against the bill, saying it will not favour the police force.

Egbetokun, who stated this while addressing some police officers, noted that if the police exit the CPS, they would go back to square one.

According to him, “it is true that a bill has been passed by the National Assembly for the police to exit the CPS and that bill is awaiting presidential assent, but has anyone of you seen the details of the content of that bill? You need to go and look at the bill and see where you are exiting to.

“Everybody is shouting ‘let us go, let us go’. You must know where you are going before you start shouting, ‘I want to go.’

“When I became IG, I set up a committee to look into the pension issue and we discovered that the bill awaiting the assent of the President does not favour us.

“If we exit the present Contributory Pension Scheme, we are going back to square one, where we were before the introduction of the scheme. Our pension will be in the hands of politicians and they will be the one to address our pension.

Our pension will be subject to budgetary allocation every year and when the government does not have money, you will not be paid. “You remember those days when retirees will go and line up and wait for months and they will not get anything, that is the place you want us to go back to.

“So we have to be careful, not to go from the frying pan to the fire. I am the Inspector General of police, you must trust me that I care about your welfare and I will fight this pension issue to make sure that police officers who retire get the best of pension in retirement.

“Let me disclose to you what I am working on, I am working on a pension scheme where every police officer will retire with his salary. That is the best and that is what I want for the police. Not the exit you are all shouting about.

“Where are you going, where are you exciting to, you don’t know where you people are going and you are saying let us go. Can you tell me where you are going before you say let us go. So let us be very careful with this emotion we are attaching to the exiting the scheme.”