By Gift Chapi Odekina
The House of Representatives on Tuesday stressed the need to investigate the Nigeria Police Force Pension Limited for failure to meet its pension and gratuity obligations.
In a motion moved by Rep. Ali Adeyemi Taofeek from Lagos, the House
mandated its Committees on Police Affairs and Pension to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the NPF Pension Limited inability to meet its monthly pension obligation and the timely payment of gratuities to retiring police officers and report back with findings and recommendations for a model to prevent future misappropriations.
The motion noted that “the Nigeria Police Pension Reforms which started with the incorporation and operation of the NPF Pension Limited in October 2013, was initiated to address deficiencies of the current Contributory Pension Scheme, peculiar to the Police Force”.
“The peculiarities, which include reconciliation of personnel data crucial to obtaining pension contributions from the CBN and effectively managing critical welfare issues such as Group
Life Assurance and Health Insurance Scheme, were highlighted to be of strategic security importance and should be managed by the NPF Pension Limited.
“After incorporation of the NPF Pension Limited, PENCOM in april, 2014 directed existing Pension Fund Administrators to move N305 billion Police Pension Assets to the NPF Pension Limited.
“Employers pension contributions of N15.8 billion, N16.6 billion, N16.6 billion and N19.7 billion were paid by the Federal Government from 2015 to 2019 respectively to the NPF Pension Limited as government contributions
“Despite the PENCOM regulatory supervision, there are various pending fraud cases instituted by EFCC against officials of NPF Pension Limited.
“Many police retirees have started protesting to the police hierarchy about the reduction of their entitlements while others have since joined the wagon of pensioners who don’t receive their monthly pensions and gratuities in full and as at when due.
“The retired officers who are being short-changed after their services to the nation may resort to taking advantage of the loopholes in the security architecture of the country, which they are aware of, to perpetrate mischief for pecuniary gains to feed their families”, the motion added.
