By Our Correspondent
The national National Association of Military Pensioners (NAMP) has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria and military authority to immediately dissolve the Military Pensions Board and investigate its Chairman, AVM Mohammad Rabiu Dabo so as to recover alleged diverted money.
The NAMP National President, Comrade Eromafuru in a press statement made available to our correspondent in Warri recently, stated that since AVM Dabo assumed office, he has refused to pay the accumulated five years arrears, adding that he paid this money into fixed deposit account only to withdraw the interest to pay retirees on quarterly basis.
Comrade Eromafuru further said that the method of payment adopted by AVM Dabo remain unacceptable to them, stressing that it was basically against the rule of law and policy of the present administration.
According to him “Dabo must vacate office immediately to give room for a proper investigation. AVM Dabo and his corrupt officers rather than serve the people they were assigned to protect, they were working to enrich themselves by diverting the pensioners’ arrears into their personal pockets to the detriment of retirees.”
He gave the examples of those who left Nigeria after the Nigerian Civil War but came back two years ago but were denied of their rights and entitlement such as 63 NA/116205L/CPL Peter Oderhowho and 63 NA217862 PTE Ogbetuo Joseph who wrote their first application for inclusion into pension in 2014 but while Peter Oderhowho gained access into the pension in 2015, Ogbetuo Joseph was yet to be paid one kobo as pension despite that he passed through the rigorous exercise of verification and visited them ten times in Abuja.
“He has spent not less than N120,000 for transport and hotel accommodation and he is not in debts. His arrears ranging from 33 years to 35 years unpaid. President Buhari must educate AVM Dabo that pension remain a right that can be accessed anytime, it remain a saving until it is demanded for, after all Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu and Senator David Mark were paid few years ago; why them are these other ranks not paid? Dabo must answer these questions especially when we are aware of serious funding of the Board since the Boko Haram insurgency,” he added.
He noted that AVM Dabo has misused his position as Chairman of the Board and should be thoroughly investigated.
