Military veterans have demanded the immediate implementation of the approved N250,000 minimum wage for serving personnel.

They accused the Federal Government of delaying the execution of a law they said was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Bola Tinubu.

The demand was made on Monday during a retreat attended by over 70 military veterans at the Armed Forces Headquarters Command Mess 1, Abuja.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Olufemi Oluyede, who was expected at the meeting, was represented by five senior military officers.

According to the veterans, the CDS was attending a meeting at the Presidential Villa.

Speaking on what transpired at the meeting, one of the organisers, Col Innocent Azubike (retd.), said the veterans had presented documentary evidence to the military representatives, who acknowledged their submissions and promised to brief the CDS immediately.

He said, “The five Generals that represented the CDS collected the papers presented by veterans and accepted that what the veterans said were facts. They said they would submit their report to the CDS immediately he comes back from the State House.

“We felt pleased that they acknowledged the facts we raised and felt we could give about a week to know the response from the CDS after he receives the report.”

Azubike said the veterans were disappointed that despite assurances from government officials over several months, the approved salary structure had yet to be implemented.

According to him, the National Assembly in October 2025 passed a bill reviewing the salaries of serving and retired military personnel after a comparative assessment showed that Nigeria had the lowest military pay among several African countries.

“The Senate passed a Bill for upward review of the pay of serving and retired military personnel. The House of Representatives gave its concurrence.

“Before passing the Bill, there was a comparative study of military pay scales in some other African nations, and Nigeria’s was found to be ridiculously the lowest.

“The Senate fixed N250,000 as the minimum pay for the least-paid soldier and directed that the required funds be included in the 2026 budget. That was done,” he said.

He added that President Tinubu assented to the bill in November 2025 and directed that the implementation should take effect with three months’ arrears.

“The President assented to the Bill in November 2025 and stated that it would carry three months’ arrears from the date of signing. This was publicly announced by the Presidency and widely reported.

“Thereafter, the Ministry of Defence and the Service Chiefs repeatedly thanked the President and assured both serving and retired personnel that payment would commence soon,” Azubike said.

The retired officers, however, alleged that military authorities had recently denied knowledge of the approved salary increase.

“Then suddenly, in July 2026, the CDS and the Ministry of Defence made a U-turn and started posturing as if there was no such pay increment and asking us to produce documents to that effect.

“To worsen matters, the Minister of Defence, who was the CDS when the bill was passed and who championed it, recently claimed that the President increased the military minimum wage from N49,000 to N100,000.

“That statement sent shockwaves through both serving and retired personnel because it is not correct,” he said.

Azubike explained that the N100,000 salary came into effect following the 2024 national minimum wage adjustment and was unrelated to the military salary review approved in November 2025.

He said the veterans remained committed to their planned peaceful protest to demand implementation of the new salary structure.

“We have clearly stated that we are determined to embark on a peaceful protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance to find out what has become of the approved increment and the funds appropriated for it.

“We are convinced that once we protest, the President will hear directly about the matter and the money will be released by fiat.

“The protest plan remains on course, and donations are still being received so that we can mobilise at short notice if there is any further delay by the authorities,” he added.

The veterans urged the Federal Government to immediately implement the approved salary structure for serving personnel and fulfil the commitments made to members of the Armed Forces. (The PUNCH, but headline tweaked)

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