According to the Military Pensions Board, the payment of the outstanding Security Debarment Allowance to qualifying military retirees or Next of Kin of deceased military personnel has begun.
A Security Debarment Allowance is money granted to former military soldiers to discourage them from using their abilities while serving against the country.
Originally, almost 90,000 military retirees who retired before 2017 were not eligible for the allowance.
According to the Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (retd), the rationale for their omission was that personnel who resigned before the law was signed were not eligible for the payment.
In the previous two years, concerned retired military veterans have staged a series of rallies demanding payment of their allowance.
However, during the inauguration of the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem and Appeal Fund last year, President Muhammadu Buhari stated that he had sanctioned N134.7 billion for the payment of the allowance to all military veterans.
Rear Admiral Saburi Lawal, Chairman of the Military Pensions Board, said in a statement on Thursday that the board has begun payments after reaching an agreement with the retirees.
“Sequel to the President’s approval for the payment of the Security Debarment Allowance to military retirees who were not originally covered by the November 9, 2017, effective date and the agreement reached at the ensuing tripartite meetings of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, and representatives of the Veteran Associations,” the statement read.
“The Military Pensions Board wishes to inform our esteemed military retirees and the general public that the Board has begun payment of the first and second tranches (that is, for the first and second quarters of 2023) of the SDA to eligible military retirees/Next of Kins of deceased military personnel.
“The payment will begin on Thursday, January 5, 2023, in fulfillment of the Presidential approval of the provisions of the revised Manual of Financial Administration 2017.”
Lawal retirees in their database who retired before November 9, 2017, will be paid.
“The beneficiaries of these payments are: military retirees on the MPB database who retired before 9 November 2017, deceased military retirees who were alive when the MAFA was signed on 9 November 2017, and non-pensionable retirees who retired before 9 November 2017 but were only paid gratuities,” according to the statement.
‘However, our valued retirees should be aware that the SDA is calculated as a function of 10% of the retiree’s yearly basic wage at the time of retirement multiplied by the number of years served in the services.'”
He asked all concerned military pensioners and NOKs of deceased military people to contact their banks in order to obtain their entitlements.
