In an effort to correct the inefficiency in the police pension fund administration, the Nigeria Police has organized a three-day training workshop for officers on the pension desk.
The workshop is aimed at training the police pension desk officers to carry out the task of managing the pension funds, in order to realize a reliable pension fund administration.
Declaring the workshop open, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) M.D Abubakar, assured that his administration was determined to ensure that: “Retired officers get what they deserve better than what they are currently getting now.”
He noted that the Police Force, which is one of the biggest organisations in Nigeria in terms of staff size, “the management of police pension needs has become cumbersome, leading to various inefficiencies our retirees are experiencing from existing service providers.”
The IGP regretted that: “It is fair to say that when it comes to police pensions, morale is low. You may recall the recent experience of retired police officers affected by the task force verification exercise, which left many of our retirees still not captured in the payroll. This discomforting news should not be allowed to impede and demoralise serving officers.
“Taking these experiences into account, our PFA, which will be designed and operated in line with the Pensions Reform Act (2004) will address specific issues to ensure the current challenges associated with our pensioners is a story.”
He, however, urged the participants, who according to him, were at the core of implementing the scheme to “be aware of the responsibilities placed on you, as you are about to be educated on how to operate in the field of PFA. In order for the scheme to be successful, the assignment requires that we bring specialist in PFA, who will equip you with the required skills to carry on this task.
“I, therefore, challenge you to make good use of the time and effort set aside to prepare for the greater service to yourselves and your colleagues, with the aim of transforming our dear country,” he said.