Some retired personnel of the Nigerian Navy have vowed to storm the service’s headquarters to protest the non‑payment of their terminal leave and packing allowances. The retirees, all from the 1984 cohort who left the navy in 2020, are frustrated by the endless wait for the allowances they claim are owed to them, especially since those who retired after them have already been paid.
The retirees said they have written to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, on three separate occasions and have visited the national headquarters to draw his attention to their plight, but all their efforts have been to no avail. In a letter dated 16 March, issued by the Coalition of Concerned Veterans and obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, the aggrieved retirees urged the CNS to settle the matter promptly to avoid a “historic embarrassment of protest” at the naval headquarters. The letter read in part:
> “The leadership of the Coalition of Concerned Veterans humbly brings to the notice of the Chief of Naval Staff that two previous letters were written on the above subject and we regret to observe that nothing practicable has been done to address the issues, despite our visit to the Naval Headquarters to meet with the Director of Veterans Affairs (NN) and the Chief of Account and Budgeting in June 2022.
> We are aware of the great achievements of the Chief of Naval Staff in his quest to reposition the service and improve the lot of personnel under his command, but we also regret that some top officials at the headquarters seek to tarnish his administration in the twilight of his stewardship, despite all efforts and unofficial intervention by senior officials of the Ministry of Defence.
> It is not our intention to cause the Chief of Naval Staff a ‘historic embarrassment’ of protest at the Naval Headquarters, as we did to the Ministry of Defence in September 2022. We hope reason will prevail and discourage our assembly at the headquarters gate of the Naval complex in a few weeks if our request/demands are not met in the shortest possible time.”
When contacted on Tuesday, Navy spokesperson Commodore Adedotun Ayo‑Vaughan disclosed the service’s willingness to pay the retirees, noting that certain technicalities must first be resolved to determine their eligibility for the allowances. He explained:
> “Regarding your inquiry, it is necessary to understand the background of the issue. In 2019, the Manual of Financial Administration for the Armed Forces of Nigeria was released and took effect in 2020. The retirees left the service before this document, which outlines some of the allowances they claim we owe them, was implemented. They retired before there were appropriate resources to back up the allowances indicated in the document, which was signed by the President. Additionally, there are technicalities concerning whether they are beneficiaries of the allowances contained in the document, which came into effect around the time they left the service. That is the issue. It is not that we are unwilling to pay them.”
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