Massive reform to take place in PENCOM – DG

From Ene Asuquo, Calabar 

The National Pension Commission (PENCOM) has disclosed that there would soon be massive reform in the Commission  for optimal productivity that would yield positive results in the management of the Contributory Pension Scheme, though the Nigeria Police Retirees have called for the exit of its members from the scheme.

The disclosure was made by the Director General of PENCOM, Ms. Omolola Oloworaran during her meeting with police retirees from the South South zones at the Police Officers’ Mess in Calabar.

Though she did not give details of how the reform was going to be, she said, “I am committed to police pension reform. I will make a proposal to the government. We are looking at a gratuity of 100 percent to retired policemen and a monthly pension of 75 to 100 percent”.

The DG promised the Police retirees who are agitating for the exit from the CPS, that the commission is poised  to do everything possible to see that the current pension scheme works best for the police officers but would not give details. “We can do a Contributory Defined Pension Scheme under CPS”, she stated.

“There will certainly be reforms and when those reforms come to light, then we can talk more about that. But on the police pension matter, just know that reform is coming. Big reform is coming”. 

The DG promised to take all their matters to the presidency but asked: “Everybody wants to leave (the CPS)?” “Yes”, echoed the police retirees. “Even when we do reform you still want to leave? You want to be like your colleagues in the military? “Yes”, they echoed again. 

She explained that the Police pension is going to be reformed “to serve police officers better than ever before. What I want to assure us is that, you know, we have a president that is bold”. It’s not every day that you see one president sign off on almost a trillion naira to pay ordinary Nigerians. It has never happened before.

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“I am very credible and you would realize that soon. So I am saying give us another chance under the president, I am very sure that we will work something out but let’s wait till the end”. 

“We know that the pensions the retired police officers are getting is too small. I totally agree with you. Everybody understands that and we know that you are suffering, your families are suffering because you can’t even take care of your family and I relate that to health care”.

She assured the retirees that, “anything that we do will not be undone by anybody else because it will be done the way it should be done. If it has to go through the senate, it will go through the senate. It will be done”.