An ex-serviceman has called on the Federal Government to implement the consequential adjustment of military pensions following recent increases in the salaries of serving military and paramilitary personnel.
The ex-serviceman spoke on Wednesday during an ongoing protest over what the veterans described as the non-implementation of consequential adjustments to their pensions.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu approved a salary increase for military and other paramilitary personnel in November last year, but the adjustment had yet to be implemented despite repeated acknowledgements of the approval by the military high command.
He said a fresh salary pronouncement had subsequently emerged, reportedly placing the minimum wage of serving personnel at about ₦180,000, but pensioners were allegedly excluded from the financial provision for the implementation of the new pay structure.
He argued that excluding retired personnel from the computation amounted to denying them their constitutional and legal rights as provided under the Constitution and the Armed Forces Act.
“The issue is the recent increase in pay. If they want to implement this new one that places the minimum wage at about ₦180,000, there should be consequential adjustment in the pay of pensioners,” he said.
The ex-serviceman warned that failure to adjust pensions alongside increases in the salaries of serving personnel would create a widening disparity between older and newer retirees.
He explained that a captain who retired 10 or 15 years ago could end up receiving a pension comparable to that of a lower-ranking officer retiring under the current salary structure.
“We all served the same military. It is propriety that whenever there is an increase in salary, it carries consequential adjustment for the retirees,” he said.
He further criticised what he described as indifference among some officials towards the plight of military pensioners, noting that many veterans depend almost entirely on their pensions for survival.
He said the protest was not about seeking special treatment but about demanding the implementation of what the veterans believe is their constitutional and statutory entitlement.
“There are peasant masses within the veteran community. The vast majority of us are affected. That is the real issue,” he added.
