Nigeria To Spend N3bn On Severance Package For Ex-Service Chiefs, Retired Generals Annually

The retirement benefits of the newly replaced service chiefs and other senior military officers compulsorily retired following the appointment of their juniors as service chiefs will cost Nigerians over three billion naira annually.

An analysis of the combined costs of their emoluments and benefits, asides from pension, of the four outgoing service chiefs including the Chief of Defence, General Lucky Irabor; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Farouq Yahaya; Chief of Army Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo and Cheif of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao revealed that the retired service chiefs will benefit about N345,080,000 annually which includes the annual salaries of personnel attached to them, vehicle purchases and healthcare cost.

Other military generals with seniority on commission above that of NDA Regular Course 39 who were forced to retire will also get vehicles, health, and personal staff.

The over 100 affected senior officers will cost the country over N2,824,000,000 every year asides from their monthly pension.

BACKGROUND
Details of the juicy emoluments of the affected officers first became public on Saturday following a Punch report which cited The Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria 2017 (revised) which listed the benefits of the retired Generals upon leaving the respective services.

According to the secret document, benefits of a retiring CDS and service chiefs include one bulletproof SUV or equivalent vehicle to be maintained by the service and to be replaced every four years; two Peugeot 508 cars or equivalent backup vehicles; and five domestic aides made up of two service cooks, two stewards, and a civilian gardener.

Each of them is also entitled to an Aide-de-Camp/security officer; special assistant of a lieutenant/captain or equivalent, or personal assistant of the rank of warrant officer or equivalent; and nine standard guards of soldiers.

They are also entitled to three service drivers; one service orderly; escorts to be provided by the appropriate military units/formations as the need arises; and free medical cover in Nigeria and abroad to the tune of $20,000 yearly.

Other military generals forced into retirement are individually entitled to one Peugeot 508, a cook, a steward, two residential guards, one service orderly, one service driver, and free medicals in Nigeria and abroad to the tune of $15,000 per year. These officers include Major Generals and equivalents in the Navy and Air Force.

STAFF COST

Ex-service chiefs are entitled to a total of 21 staff each drawn from their respective military formation (i.e. Army, Navy, or Airforce) and one civilian staff, they can also request escorts to be provided by the appropriate military units/formations as the need arises.

The 21 personal staff comprises 1 orderly, 1 Aide-de-camp, 1 Special Assistant, 1 Personal Assistant, 3 Service Drivers, 9 standard guards of soldiers as well as 5 domestic staff (2 service cooks, 2 stewards, and 1 civilian gardener). The HTACOS document also specified the rank of some of the aides to be provided for the ex-service chiefs.

For each retired general, a total of 6 members of staff are to be provided. This includes 1 orderly, 2 residential guards, 1 steward, 1 driver, and 1 cook

Personal staff who are usually non-commissioned officers earn about N960,000 annually (Warrant Officer), this amount was applied to personal assistants, guards of soldiers, service drivers, stewards, and cooks.

Other attached commissioned officers include an Orderly, Aide-de-Camp, and Special Adviser at the lieutenant/captain rank. The average annual salaries range from N2,400,000 to N2,640,000.

For the civilian gardener, Nigeria’s national minimum wage of N30,000 was applied. This amounted to N360,000 annually.

Using the aforementioned parameters, the average personnel cost of staff attached to each service chief amounts to N24,120,000 annually while each retired general will cost the country N7,440,000. This figure excludes the allowances or bonuses that the deployed officers may be entitled to.

VEHICLE COSTS
As stated in section 11.8 of the HTACOS 2017, retiring CDS and service chiefs are entitled to one bulletproof SUV or equivalent vehicle and one Peugeot 508 or equivalent backup vehicle, to be maintained by the service and to be replaced every four years.

Retired Generals, on the other hand, are only entitled to one Peugeot 508 when they retire.

To get the price of both vehicles THE WHISTLER contacted two auto dealers in addition to an online survey on carmart.ng.

Alhaji ‎Lukman Olaboye, the Chief Executive Officer of Kasluk‎ Motors told this Newspaper that the average price of a 2020 Toyota Landcruiser with a V8 engine is around N70 million, adding that the bulletproof version can cost significantly more when the costs of obtaining required licenses are factored in.

“Before you can sell bulletproof cars, you must get the approval of the National Security Adviser, but the Toyota Landcruiser 2020 model V8 is around N70 million,” he said.

On Carmart.ng, a brand new bulletproof Toyota Landcruiser 2022 model was listed for N150 million, this price excludes the costs of obtaining the End-User Certificate for armoured SUVs.

For the Peugeot 508, this Newspaper contacted an auto dealer at Kaura Motors who explained that the 2022 model of vehicle is sold for N37 million.

This brings the total cost of acquiring vehicles for each retired service chief to N187 million while each retired general will cost the country N37 million. This is excluding maintenance which is still the duty of the Federal Government.

Prorated for four years ex-service chiefs and retired generals will cost the country N46.75 million and N9.25 million each annually.

MEDICAL COSTS
As stated in the HTACOS document, ex-service chiefs are entitled to free medical care in Nigeria and abroad to the tune of $20,000 per year, while retired generals are to spend up to $15,000 annually on health care, within and outside the country.

Using the prevailing dollar exchange rate of N770/$1 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), ex-service chiefs will get a total of N15,400,000 while retired generals will be spending the sum of N11,550,000 annually on medicals.

TOTAL COSTS
A summation of all the costs shows that each retired service chief will cost the country N24,120,000 in personnel and staff, N46,750,000 in vehicles and another 15,400,000 naira in medicals. This gives a total of N86,270,000 per service chief. The four of them will cost the country N345,080,000 yearly.

Retired generals will take N7,440,000 in personnel and staff costs; N9,250,000 in vehicles and N11,550,000 in medicals annually which gives a total of N28,240,000 naira. 100 retired generals will cost the country N2,824,000,000 naira every year.

Subsequently, all the newly retired military officials will cost the Federal Government a total of N3,169,080,000 in combined costs yearly.