Retired military personnel are preparing to stage a protest at the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday over the failure to increase their pensions in line with salary adjustments approved.

The planned demonstration was disclosed by one of the leaders of the retirees, retired Col. Innocent Azubike, who said the group was demanding what it considers its constitutional entitlement to improved pensions.

Azubike said President Bola Tinubu approved an increase in military salaries in November 2025, which he maintained should have triggered a corresponding adjustment for pensioners.

He accused the authorities of failing to implement the adjustment despite earlier indications that the presidential approval would benefit retired personnel.

“We have a protest on Wednesday at the Ministry of Defence to demand our constitutional pension rights.

“In November last year, the President approved a new pay increase for the military, and it came with a consequential adjustment for retirees and pensioners.

“It was in the news throughout that November, and the high military authorities repeatedly thanked the President for the gesture.

“But suddenly, in July and August, it was not implemented, and they started changing their stories, as if it should be forgotten.”

The retired officer said the matter had become more pressing following another salary increase announced for serving military personnel in August 2026, which is expected to take effect in September.

According to him, funds had already been calculated for the latest salary adjustment, but the provision did not include the corresponding increase for military pensioners.

“Another military salary increase was announced this August, totally ignoring that of last year. The new announcement is supposed to start implementation in September.

“They have computed the fund requirement for implementing this second announcement of pay increase. In their computation, they excluded pensioners and the consequential adjustment of pensioners’ pensions. That is the main issue we are protesting.”

Azubike stressed that the retirees were not against improved salaries for serving personnel, but wanted pensioners to benefit from the consequential adjustment.

He warned that leaving retired personnel out could create significant income gaps among officers of the same rank and with similar years of service who retired at different periods.

“The implication is that when they raise the salary of serving personnel, those who will be retiring from the new salary scale, their pension will be far higher than their contemporaries of the same rank and equal number of years of service who had earlier retired.

“You could now have a situation where a recently retired captain, for example, could be receiving N500,000, while an older captain who had retired earlier could be receiving N250,000, and the same thing affects all the ranks.

“So, in demand of that consequential adjustment for pension, we are coming for the protest at the Ministry of Defence,” he said.