Commodore Saburi Abayomi Lawal was appointed the Chairman of the Military Pension Board (MPB) in September, 2020. Until that appointment, he was the Director of Finance at the Defence Intelligence Agency. He hit the ground running immediately, focusing on improving the welfare of the retired Military personnel and also maintaining cordial relationship between the Military Pensions Board (MPB) and veteran bodies of military retirees in Nigeria.
Surrounded by wonderful staff, he has been working tirelessly to achieve ease for military pensioners while he has also been able to keep the integrity of board intact since he came into office. His focus is on achieving excellence to keep retired military men happy. In this way more morale and patriotism will be built in serving officers and men of the armed forces of Nigeria.
The Military Pension Board is charged with the responsibility of administering pensions of military retirees, payment of death benefits to next-of-kins of deceased personnel of the Armed Forces of Nigeria through funds allocated to it by the National Assembly. And since its creation, the welfare of the retired Military personnel has remained a priority.
To continue the existing cordial relationship between the retired service men and the MPB, Commodore Lawal met with stakeholders as soon as he settled in office. He held a maiden interactive session with representatives of 14 veteran bodies at the MPB Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday 6 October 2020.
In his welcome address, he emphasized the importance of dialogue and exchange of ideas between the Board and the veteran bodies. According to him, there wouldn’t have been a MPB if there are no military pensioners. He added that the cooperation of all veteran bodies was key to his vision of taking the Board to higher levels, saying he would do all in his power to sustain prompt payment of all entitlements of military retirees or their NOKs in a transparent and accountable manner and to uphold principles of fairness and service to humanity in the discharge of the Board’s mandate. He assured that the MPB would ensure that the welfare of military retirees receive needed attention as the Board would do everything possible to ensure better welfare for all military retirees.
He appreciated the leaders of the veteran bodies who attended the meeting, disclosing that he had instructed that the processing of monthly pensions should be completed by 22nd of every month in anticipation of release of funds by the Federal Government. According to him, this would help ensure prompt payment and early crediting of retirees’ bank accounts before the end of the month.
Leaders of the various groups present at the event were happy and commended the coordination of activities that culminated in the successful maiden interaction between Veterans Associations and the MPB. According to one of the representatives, “this is a significant leap ahead of his predecessors in his administration aimed at building a very friendly and purposeful relationship between the veteran community and the Board. He is definitely moving in the right direction”.
The 14 veteran bodies present at the event include the Nigerian Legion, Ex-Servicemen Pensioners Association, Ex-Servicemen & Family Welfare Association, Retired Army, Navy and Air Force Officers Association (RANAO), Retired Member of the Armed Forces (REMENAF), Association of Ex-servicemen Pensioners, Committee of retired Generals and Equivalent in Lagos and the Foundation for Care of Retired Military Personnel. Others are Coalition of Concerned Veterans, Veteran Federation of Nigeria, Foundation for the Support of Nigerian Veterans, Ex-Service Men Mando, Green Heroes Foundation, and the Ex-servicemen Welfare Association Masak.
Early in November 2020, Commodore Lawal, appeared before Senate Committee on Defence, to defend Military Pension Board 2021 budgetary estimates, where he called on the committee to favorably consider the MPB 2021 budget estimates.
“We appeal to your committee to kindly increase the military pensions board overhead and capital cost allocations to accommodate the rising inflationary trend in the society and to enhance infrastructure development of the board.”
He said the annual budgetary allocations to the MPB are divided into pensions, gratuities, death benefits, allied cost, overhead cost and capital expenditure.
Some days after that, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Department of Defence Transformation and Innovation (DTI) visited Commodore Lawal and expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Military Pensions Board (MPB). This was due to its compliance with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Strategic Directive 01 of 2019. ) Air Vice Marshal HE Eze, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation (DME), gave the impressive assessment, during the DTI’s second transformation sensitization/evaluation visit to the Military Pension Board in Abuja.
Speaking during the visit, Air Vice Marshal HE Eze noted that the DTI team was delighted by the level of compliance witnessed at the MPB. According to him, the Board has been able to perform at a commendable level which is worthy of emulation by other DHQ establishments.
In his remarks, Commodore Lawal thanked the DHQ Team for the commendation, assuring them that the Board would continue to ensure efficient service delivery in the execution of its mandates. He stated that in compliance with the CDS Strategic Directive 01-2019, the Board has been able to complete the construction and equipping of a composite indoor sports complex and the construction of 4 blocks of transit accommodation for officers and men.
That visit was followed by that of the National Executives of the Nigerian Legion who visited the Military Pensions Board (MPB sometime in November 2020. Commodore Lawal received the Chairman in his office in Abuja, where they decorated Commodore Lawal with the 2021-Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblem
He assured the delegation that the Board would sustain prioritizing the welfare needs of all military pensioners in the country. He assured them that the Board will continue to prioritize prompt payment of monthly pensions as the government continues to release funds on time. Lawal told them that under a proposed electronic verification, pensioners would not go through the ordeal of traveling from their respective villages or communities to state capitals. “They will only have to visit any of the accredited banks with their BVN and be screened”, he added.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, Brigadier General Adakole Jones Akpa (rtd), lauded the Board for the new innovations introduced in the payment of pensions of retired Military men, adding that the era of collapsing while waiting to be paid is gone for good. He, therefore, charged the Board to sustain the feat and ensure that the welfare of the retired Military men remains a priority.
In his words, “we have observed that Military retirees are paid as at when due, the era when retired military men die or collapse while waiting to be paid is gone. I want to commend the Military Pension Board for doing a great job”.
Commodore Lawal also visited the Acting Chairman of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) in his office in Abuja to solicit for the speed-up of the process for the issuance of a new payment chart for military retirees incorporating the minimum wage policy of government . The two agencies therefore had an extensive
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