Military veterans have protested over alleged underpayment of their pensions, demanding an urgent recalculation of their entitlements in line with approved adjustments to the salaries of serving military personnel. The protesters, led by Lt. Col. Innocent Azubuike, coordinator of the Veterans Association of Nigeria, stormed the Military Pensions Board in Abuja, on Tuesday morning. They accused the board of using a pension computation formula that allegedly reduced the percentage increases approved for retired personnel. Speaking during the protest on Tuesday, Azubuike said the approved adjustments provided for an 80 per cent increase for personnel from the rank of private to staff sergeant, 50 per cent for warrant officers to colonels, and 30 per cent for brigadier generals and higher ranks. He alleged that the board failed to apply the approved percentages directly to the pensions veterans were already receiving, instead using a calculation method that reduced their entitlements. “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.” Azubuike said the veterans had earlier approached the Ministry of Defence in August to demand the inclusion of retired personnel in the salary-related adjustments after discovering that they had initially been excluded. According to him, the ministry acknowledged the omission and subsequently included them in the approved adjustments. However, he accused the Military Pensions Board of introducing a calculation method that allegedly undermined the approved increases, despite the fact that the pension rates of retirees had already been determined by their ranks and years of service at retirement. He argued that the approved percentage should apply to the pension each retiree was receiving before the adjustment, rather than being subjected to another calculation based on the conditions under which the individual retired. “Even though it’s short-changing the criteria, it’s short-changing military veterans, but that criteria wasn’t still followed,” he said. “We are about 100,000 military veterans,” he said, adding that he had records to support the allegations of discrepancies in pension payments. 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 maintained that the dispute concerned the implementation of approved pension adjustments, which he said veterans had fought to secure after discovering that retired personnel were initially excluded. Augustine recalled that the veterans protested on August 19, after which, according to him, the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, acknowledged their concerns and supported their inclusion in the adjustment. He said the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had also provided a chart explaining the calculations, arguing that the board should implement the approved percentages rather than introduce a different method. “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, referring to the alleged departure from the approved adjustment framework.
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