Police Pension Fund Administrator Created, Says IG

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, on Monday said a Police Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) had been set up to cater for its retirees. Abubakar said at a three-day capacity building workshop for Police Pension Desk Officers that the establishment came following the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to him, the fund will operate in line with the Pension Reform Act, 2004 and will tackle challenges being faced by police retirees.

“I am glad to mention the creation of a Police Pension Fund Administrator.

“As one of the biggest organisations in Nigeria in terms of staff size, the management of police pension needs has become cumbersome leading to inefficiencies from existing service providers,’’ he said.

He said that some of those inefficiencies included the difficulties in locating the service providers’ offices and accessing fund after retirement.

“It becomes necessary that we take our destiny in our own hands, we know our needs. We are working to deliver them within the frame work of the Pension Reform Act.

“It is for this reason that President Goodluck Jonathan directed that the police should continue to be covered under the contributory scheme but approved that we should have a PFA of our own.

“The PFA will be designed as prescribed by the law and as a corporate body established under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA),” he said.

The I-G added that a proportion of the dividends from the business would be allocated to fund existing police welfare schemes.

“It is my belief that a proper pension administration scheme is critical and complementary to the existing schemes already being implemented by the force.”

He urged the participants to take their training seriously as it was designed to equip them to manage the new fund.

Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Pension), Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, said the training was aimed at empowering the officers to manage the fund in line with the National Pension Commission’s guidelines.

“I urge all participants to take this sensitisation seriously to meet our aspirations of possessing an efficient and most reliable fund administrator in the country,” he said. (NAN)