Retired police officers on Monday staged a protest in Abuja, warning President Bola Tinubu that they may withhold electoral support from across Nigeria if he fails to sign the Police Exit Bill that would remove the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The demonstrators, alongside their families, blocked Gate 8 leading to the Presidential Villa between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., demanding urgent presidential assent to the bill.
Leading the protest, the National Coordinator of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd.), said police retirees across all 36 states would respond politically if their demands are ignored.
Irowainu said, “We are calling on President Bola Tinubu to sign our bill as a matter of urgency. He should know that in Nigeria, we are very serious stakeholders. Retirees are scattered all over Nigeria.
“We will use our votes judiciously and those of our families to determine our future in the coming elections. From Zamfara, Maiduguri to Cross River, we are in thousands among the populace.”
He also decried the welfare conditions of retired officers, insisting that many who survived active service now live with injuries and illnesses sustained in the line of duty.
“When in service, they kill us. We who survived and managed to retire, they programme us to die again. Many of us retire with disabilities and sickness. Many of us here have bullets in our bodies in the course of our duty.
“Unless the President fixes the problems of the police, internal security problems will not stop. We are the force closest to the people.”
He further warned that the agitation would intensify if the government fails to act.
“We will remain in Abuja until that bill is signed. We will protest at the airport, US embassy, we will cry out until this bill is signed,” said Irowainu.
Protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “End CPS” and “If military, DSS were removed from PENCOM, why not police?” while chanting “Police dey work, PenCom dey chop.”
A Villa security official at the scene said the protesters were directed to remain under a tree to express their grievances, while access to the gates was restricted on “orders from above.”
The Police Retired Officers Forum, under which the demonstration was organised, described the CPS as “fraudulent, illegal, inhumane and obnoxious,” insisting the President must immediately assent to the Police Exit Bill.
The legislation, passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, was transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026, and has since awaited presidential approval.
Sponsored by House Leader Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, it seeks to establish a Nigerian Police Force Pension Board and remove police personnel from the Contributory Pension Scheme under the Pension Reform Act 2014.
Irowainu argued that other security agencies had already been exempted from the scheme.
“The soldiers have been exited, the SSS 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.”
The National Coordinating Secretary for Retired Police Officers Under the CPS, CSP Mannir Zaria (retd.), said families joined the protest to highlight worsening welfare conditions.
“We are here to appeal to the President to sign the bill to exit the police from the contributory pension scheme and to establish a Nigerian Police Force pension body. That is why we are here,” he said.
Also speaking, Aisha Yisa, wife of a retired officer, appealed emotionally for government intervention.
“We are begging our President. We are appealing to you, please have mercy on us. Have mercy on our children.
Have mercy on our wives. Have mercy on our husbands. He retired after 35 years and there is nothing to go home with.
“You can imagine someone retires and is taking N30,000 a month in today’s Nigerian economy. What can N30,000 buy? Medication? Nothing.
“You go to the market, you can’t buy anything. Our children have been dropping out of school. Please, we are appealing to you.”
A protest letter submitted at the Villa, signed by Irowainu and National Secretary Dr Nnaemezie Ignatius Enyi (retd.), outlined the pension structure under the current system.
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It stated that a Chief Superintendent of Police receives a lump sum of N3m to N4m and a monthly pension of N50,000 after years of service, while an Assistant Superintendent gets between N1.5m and N2m with N25,000 monthly. An Inspector reportedly receives a lump sum of about N1m and N20,000 monthly.
The group described the figures as “inhumanity of man to man,” accusing the National Pension Commission of distorting facts to frustrate the bill and protect vested interests.
They warned that failure to sign the bill would trigger further action, including what they called an “indefinite National Peaceful Protest tagged ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’” across Abuja, the Presidential Villa, and all 36 state capitals.
The latest protest follows a similar demonstration in September 2025, when retired officers stormed the National Assembly, also rejecting the CPS and calling it a system that entrenches poverty among retirees.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had previously acknowledged concerns, noting that the policy had created hardship for police personnel who risked their lives in service to the country.
The protest letter was also copied to Vice President Kashim Shettima, First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, Minister of Defence Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), Minister of Police Affairs Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam, FCT Minister Nyesome Wike, National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu, and DSS Director-General Adeola Ajayi.