KEY POINTS

• Military pensions budget increased by 53 percent to N338.90 billion.
• Recurring protests prompted immediate payments of overdue entitlements.
• Concerns persist over transparency in pension fund management.

In proposing a 53 percent increase in military retirees’ allocations in the 2025 budget, the Federal Government has heeded years of unhappy appeals about unpaid entitlements.

Military pensions are to get N221.66 billion in 2024 and N338.90 billion in 2025, steps taken to meet the demands of retired service personnel.

This breakdown includes N230.32 billion for military pensions, N66.85 billion for new retirees and N38.15 billion for death benefits; N3.57 billion for the National Health Insurance Scheme remains unchanged.

It comes after regular retires worked in Abuja’s Ministry of Finance to force payment of benefits that they are owed, as part of the protests.

Protests repeats yield results

The Coalition of Military Pensioners has repeatedly hounded tax payers with unpaid entitlements such as salary increments, refunds of deductions, palliatives, etc. Initial payments notwithstanding, the promises were not met and dissatisfaction continued.

Furthermore, a new protest bound at the Ministry of Finance on January 7, 2025, led to the government disbursing the funds immediately. At the protest site, retirees started getting alerts saying they were being paid their entitlements.

Air Vice Marshal Paul Irumheson, the chairman of the Military Pension Board told the pensioners that funds have been transferred. He said, ‘we plead with you to leave because we are making moves to get everyone paid.’

More allocation signals progress

In addition, the proposed budget increase seeks to implement other adjustments from the new minimum wage structure. That will go a long way to offset some of the financial hardships retirees face in their old age, as it will mean a N32,000 increase in their monthly pensions.

These steps have also done nothing to address concerns about transparency and efficiency within the Military Pension Board. Senate investigates for financial mismanagement; additional N20 billion has been requested to upgrade infrastructure.

This means a positive step in terms of increase of allocation but difficult task is to provide timely and effective implementation of these commitments, while maintaining trust among retirees.