Reps move to stop early retirement of Army officers

The House of Representatives has moved to stop the Nigerian Army’s policy of automatically merging years spent in service as soldiers with years served as commissioned officers, saying the practice is forcing experienced personnel out of service prematurely.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by the member representing Mayo-Belwa, Jada, Ganye and Toungo Federal Constituency of Adamawa State, Zakaria Nyampa.

Presenting the motion, Nyampa said the Nigerian Army currently merges years spent in the ranks with years served after commissioning as officers.

He also noted that periods spent in university education or awaiting commissioning are counted as part of an officer’s total reckonable service.

According to him, “The practice is inconsistent with the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service 2017 (Revised), which defines an officer’s military service as ‘a period of unbroken service in the Armed Forces of Nigeria from the date of commission to the date of retirement.’”

The lawmaker argued that the policy violates the doctrine of legitimate expectation and principles of contractual fairness contained in Sections 7 and 91 of the Labour Act.

Nyampa said the implications of the policy extend beyond legal concerns.

He said: “The policy has wider implications for military operations and personnel management.”

He added: “The automatic merger policy is discriminatory, undermines morale and cohesion within the officer corps, accelerates the retirement of experienced personnel, creates manpower gaps, increases recruitment costs, erodes institutional memory, and deviates from international best practices.”

Following the debate, the House urged the Nigerian Army Council to discontinue the automatic merger of service years for officers commissioned through the Short Service Combatant Commission (SSCC), Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC) and Direct Regular Commission (DRC).

Lawmakers recommended that any merger of service years should be optional and applied only at the written request of affected officers for pension computation purposes.

The House also called on the Armed Forces Council to “Harmonise service reckonability across the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force to ensure fairness, cohesion and uniformity in military service regulations.”

Members further urged the Chief of Army Staff to “Undertake sensitisation programmes and issue transitional guidelines to eliminate ambiguity and prevent misinterpretation of any revised policy.”

In addition, lawmakers asked the Nigerian Army Council to carry out “Legal and administrative reviews aimed at preventing potential litigation arising from what they described as the retroactive application of the policy.”

The House subsequently mandated its Committee on Army to conduct a comprehensive oversight of the matter, particularly on the rights, welfare and career progression of affected officers, and report back within four weeks.

The controversy centres on how service years are calculated for personnel who began their military careers as soldiers, ratings or airmen before earning commissions as officers through programmes such as the SSCC, DSSC and DRC.

Critics of the policy argue that it shortens the active career span of commissioned officers by causing them to reach statutory service limits earlier than officers who entered service directly through commissioned ranks.