From Victor Osula, Abuja
Retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force, under the aegis of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF), on Monday, staged a protest at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, demanding that President Bola Tinubu sign into law the Police Exit Bill, which seeks to withdraw the Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The bill, passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the President on March 16, 2026, is at the centre of the retirees’ agitation, as they insist that remaining under the CPS has subjected them to hardship and uncertainty in retirement.
Displaying placards with various inscriptions, alongside the Nigerian flag and that of the Nigeria Police Force, the protesters (mostly elderly former officers) marched from the Three Arms Zone through the route in front of the Force Headquarters to the Presidential Villa, calling for urgent presidential assent to the bill.
Led by the National Coordinator of PROF, Raphael Irowainu, the retirees described the continued inclusion of the police in the CPS as “fraudulent, illegal, inhumane and obnoxious”, arguing that it has negatively affected their welfare after years of service.
According to Irowainu, the protest was aimed solely at prevailing on the President to assent to the bill, which he said would exempt police personnel from what he termed a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”
“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 and transmitted to him, into law, nothing more than that”, he said.
Irowainu further lamented that while other security and intelligence agencies have been removed from the CPS, the police remain the only major institution still under the scheme.
“The soldiers have been exited, the DSS has been exited, the Air Force has been exited, the Navy has been exited, the National Intelligence Agency has been exited. The police, who are the fathers of them all, are trapped in this obnoxious Contributory Pension Scheme”, he added.
In a dramatic escalation, the protesters blocked Gate 8 of the Presidential Villa, disrupting vehicular movement in the area, as they demanded to be addressed by government officials. Despite attempts by security personnel to disperse them, the retirees refused to leave, insisting on being heard.
Some of the protesters laid mats on the ground, sang solidarity songs, and expressed frustration over what they described as years of neglect, while others lay on the bare floor in protest.
The protest marks a continuation of sustained agitation by retired police officers over the CPS. In July 2025, similar protests were held at the National Assembly and the Force Headquarters, where retirees braved harsh weather conditions to press home their demands for removal from the scheme.
At the time, the then Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, acknowledged the concerns raised by the retirees and assured them that efforts were ongoing to improve their welfare. However, he noted that exiting the Force from the CPS could not be implemented immediately due to policy and structural considerations.
Monday’s protest, however, signals growing impatience among retired officers, as they intensify pressure on the Federal Government to act on the Police Exit Bill, which they believe holds the key to addressing their long-standing pension challenges.
