MILITARY veterans on Tuesday barricaded the entrance to the Military Pensions Board office in Kubwa, Abuja, protesting the formula adopted for adjusting their pensions and alleging irregularities in payments approved by President Bola Tinubu.
News Point Nigeria reports that the veterans blocked the entrance with canopies and chairs as early as 8 a.m., expressing dissatisfaction with the implementation of the pension adjustments, while armed soldiers prevented the protesters from accessing the premises.
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The protest came weeks after military retirees demonstrated at the Ministry of Defence in September, demanding an increase in their pensions following salary adjustments for serving military personnel.
The Coordinator of the Veterans Association of Nigeria, Lt. Col. Innocent Azubike, accused the board of adopting a pension adjustment formula that allegedly short-changed some retirees.
Azubike said the protest followed growing disaffection among veterans over the implementation of consequential adjustments to their pensions, arguing that the formula had resulted in unequal payments across different categories of retirees.
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“In the lower categories of your rank, because of the lesser number of years of service, they say, ‘This 80% the president approved for you; you cannot get it. You can only get 40.’ And they said, ‘This one that put 35 years, you will not get that 80%. We’ve only given 90%. This one is obnoxious and very provocative. We haven’t seen it before. We raised issues, and they were trying to put up some defence,” he said.
He expressed frustration over what he described as the board’s failure to address veterans’ grievances, alleging that the pension adjustment process had generated widespread anger among military retirees.
“I can tell you that over 90 per cent of military veterans and retirees are very angry, but these guys are not moved. Now, this is one aspect of the short payment. The other aspect of the short payment is that even the criteria they claimed to have used were not uniform. Out of every 10 people, maybe four or five were done on that criteria. Others have been paid far less than they were entitled to. There has been so much anger and bitterness within the community,” Azubuike noted.
The veterans’ concerns centre on the formula used to calculate the adjustments, which they believe has failed to adequately reflect the salary increases granted to serving military personnel.
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They are also alleging inconsistencies in the criteria used to determine payments, with some retirees reportedly receiving substantially less than they believe they are entitled to under the approved adjustments.
The demonstration represents the latest escalation in the dispute between military retirees and the authorities over pension entitlements, following the September protest at the Ministry of Defence.
