Military pensioners urge wages commission to investigate alleged deduction of allowances

Military pensioners have urged the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to launch a full scale investigation on the alleged illegal deduction from their monthly allowances by the Military Pension Board.

This was just as the retired military officers demanded urgent inquiry into unnecessary delay in the payment of 24 months backlog of pension arrears being withheld by the concerned military authority statutorily entrusted to manage their affairs.

Making the call on Thursday, while adressing journalists in Kano, spokesman of the Retired Army, Navy and Air Force Officers Association (RANAO), Captain Yusuf Abdulmalik (rtd), lamented that indiscriminate shortchange has rendered retired officers undue psychological pressure.

“We are concerned, worried and disappointed about this inhuman treatment from the military pension board after serving the nation meritoriously. We don’t deserve this unfair treatment and that is why we believe the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission has the statutory responsibility to investigate and urgently correct this anomalies being perpetrated for too long. We should not wait until people get out of patience and leave with no option than to march on the street in protest. This allowance is our entitlement to earn it so nobody should even think of denying us what belongs to us.”

Captain Abdulmalik (rtd) who worried that ex-military officers find it extremely difficult to enjoy unconditional benefit of their entitlement as approved by the Federal government, alleged abuse and illegal tampering of the Armed Forces Salary Structure template released by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

According to him, the Federal government in April, 2019 approved the Consequential Adjustment of the Gross Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure for military pensioners, the implementation of the directive only took effect beginning in May, 2021; leaving accumulative of 24 months arrears unsettled. The ex-military officers insisted that no officer deserved the irrational treatment occasioned by the discrepancies in their pensions, after serving the nation meritoriously.

“We don’t want the situation this time to end up the way and manner our 53 percent was callously reduced to 33 percent during president Goodluck Jonathan’s government in 2009. The man genuinely approved the upward increase of 53 percent for both serving and retired military officers. But why the serving officers enjoyed fully their benefits, ours was shortchanged and reduced to 33 percent. We were told the 20 percent were meant for housing and taxation. We are yet to receive any housing allocation after 10 years. We plead with the Federal government to look into this urgently,” Captain Abdulmalik said.

He however cited similar experience during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan where a 53 percent increase of military pensions was approved but reduced to 33 percent leaving the balance unaccounted for, pleaded with the Federal Government not to allow their sweat dry in vain.

He said: “Remember, when the president Muhammad Buhari approved the consequential adjustment of the military pension in 2019, the implementation was meant to start immediate but that does not happened until May, 2020. Well, we thank God the implementation has finally started but actually abused our minds again is the discrepancies in the payment.

“This is besides the fact that the 24 month backlog is still hanging. The template is altered such that none of us get what is due to us meaning we are being paid far below what is slated in the template. For instance as a retired Captain, I should be entitled to earn over N3.5 million annually which is equivalent to over N300,000.00 monthly. But you will be surprised my monthly allowance is far below N300,000 monthly. This is sad.”

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