Reps seek end to Army policy forcing early retirement of SSCC, DSSC officers

The House of Representatives has taken steps to stop the Nigerian Army’s policy that automatically merges years spent as a soldier with years served as a commissioned officer, a practice lawmakers say forces experienced personnel into early retirement and creates manpower shortages.

The move followed a motion by Adamawa lawmaker Zakaria Nyampa, who argued that the current policy also counts periods of university education or awaiting commissioning as part of an officer’s total service years.

Nyampa noted that the practice contradicts the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service 2017 (Revised), which defines military service as unbroken service from the date of commission to retirement. He also said the policy violates principles of contractual fairness under the Labour Act.

According to the lawmaker, the automatic merger of service years is discriminatory, undermines morale, accelerates the loss of experienced personnel, creates manpower gaps, increases recruitment costs, erodes institutional memory, and deviates from international best practices.

Adopting the motion, the House urged the Nigerian Army Council to discontinue the automatic merger of service years for officers commissioned through the Short Service Combatant Commission, Direct Short Service Commission, and Direct Regular Commission. It recommended that any merger should be optional and applied only upon the written request of affected officers for pension computation.

Lawmakers also called on the Armed Forces Council to harmonise service reckonability across the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Chief of Army Staff was urged to carry out sensitisation programmes and issue transitional guidelines to prevent misinterpretation of any revised policy.

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