Police Retirees Storm Presidential Villa Gate, Demand Tinubu Sign Exit Bill
Retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force on Monday blocked an entrance to the Presidential Villa in Abuja, ramping up pressure on Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the long-delayed Police Exit Bill.
Retired personnel of the Nigeria Police Force and their families, under the aegis of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF), staged a protest on Monday, April 20, 2026, blocking a gate at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Led by its National Coordinator, CSP Raphael Irowainu (rtd.), the retirees are demanding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sign the Police Exit Bill into law.
The protesters described the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as fraudulent, illegal, inhumane, and obnoxious, insisting that the police be removed from the scheme and returned to a defined benefits structure.
The bill was passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026.
The retirees argue that other security agencies, including the military, the SSS, and the NIA, have already been exempted from the CPS, leaving police personnel at a disadvantage.
They also called for the establishment of a dedicated board to manage their retirement benefits and gratuities, lamenting what they described as “slave pensions,” with some reportedly earning as little as ₦18,000 to ₦33,000 monthly—an amount they say is inadequate for basic survival in the current economy.
The protest at the Villa gate followed a similar demonstration on April 13, 2026, at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters and the National Assembly. During those protests, tensions escalated as serving officers were deployed to block their retired colleagues, leading to a standoff in which retirees resisted what they described as intimidation by active-duty personnel.
