Retired military personnel on Tuesday besieged the Military Pensions Board in Abuja, accusing it of short-changing about 100,000 veterans through alleged underpayment of approved pension adjustments.
The protesters are demanding an urgent review of the calculations, insisting that the board failed to apply the approved percentage increases directly to the pensions they were receiving before the adjustment.
Led by Lt. Col. Innocent Azubuike, coordinator of the Veterans Association of Nigeria, the veterans alleged that the board introduced a computation formula that reduced their entitlements instead of implementing the approved increases.
Azubuike said the approved adjustments provided for an 80 per cent increase for personnel from private to staff sergeant, 50 per cent for warrant officers to colonels, and 30 per cent for brigadier generals and higher ranks.
“We have gotten presidential approval for the consequential allowance on the percentages allotted to various rank categories,” he said.
“Now, in paying us this consequential adjustment, Pension Board did not pay this very approved percentage.”
According to him, the veterans approached the Ministry of Defence in August after discovering that retired personnel had initially been excluded from the salary-related adjustments.
He said the ministry acknowledged the omission and subsequently included the veterans in the approved adjustment, but accused the Military Pensions Board of undermining the decision through its method of calculation.
Azubuike argued that the approved percentages should be applied to the pensions retirees were receiving before the adjustment, rather than recalculated using the conditions under which they retired.
He said the veterans had records showing discrepancies in the payments and insisted that the board’s approach had deprived them of their full entitlements.
“We are about 100,000 military veterans,” he said.
Another protester, Master Warrant Officer Duru Augustine, said the alleged underpayment had left retired personnel feeling betrayed after years of service to the country.
“Honestly, honestly, it’s bad. Having in your own constituency, being treated like a slave,” Augustine said.
He recalled that the veterans protested on August 19, after which Defence Minister Christopher Musa acknowledged their concerns and supported their inclusion in the adjustment.
Augustine also said the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had provided a chart explaining the calculations, arguing that the pensions board should follow the approved framework rather than introduce a different method.
He described the alleged departure from the approved adjustment as an affront to the authority of President Bola Tinubu, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
“It’s an insult to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It’s an insult to the capacity of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, for him to go back and do whatever he feels like doing,” he said.
The veterans are demanding that the Military Pensions Board review its calculations and ensure that retired personnel receive the full increases approved for their respective rank categories.
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