POLICE AND OTHER AGENCIES PENSIONS OFFICES (ESTABLISHMENT, ETC.) ACT

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any enactment or law, there is hereby established three offices (in this Act referred to collectively as the "Pensions Office") to be known by the following names, that is to say-
(a) the Police Pensions Office;
(b) the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Services Pensions Office;
(c) the Intelligence Community Pensions Office,
which shall each deal with the pension administration of the para-military bodies specified in subsection (3) of this section and perform such other functions relating to pension administration as may be specified from time to time by the appropriate authority.
(2) The Pensions Office shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and common seal with power to hold and dispose of property.
(3) The para-military bodies referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be the Nigeria Police Force, the Customs Services, the Department of Immigration Services, the Prisons Services, the Defence Intelligence Services, the National Intelligence Services and the Department of State Security Services.

(1) The Pensions Office shall be headed by an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Director who shall be appointed by the appropriate authority and shall be responsible for the general administration of the Pensions Office, the execution of government policies and the transaction of its day-to-day affairs.
(2) The Pensions Office shall have power to appoint its own staff in accordance with such provisions as may be provided by the Federal Civil Service Commission.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Pensions Act, service in each Pensions Office shall be approved service for the purposes of that Act and, accordingly, officers and other persons employed in the Pensions Office shall in respect of their service in each Pensions Office be entitled to pensions, gratuities and other retirement benefits as are enjoyed by persons holding equivalent grades in the civil service of the Federation, so however that nothing in this Act, shall prevent the appointment of a person to any office on terms which preclude the grant of pension and gratuity in respect of that office.

(1) The Pensions Office shall have responsibility for the execution of policies on pension matters and generally for the pension administration of the members of-
(a) the Nigerian Police Force;
(b) the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigerian Prisons Service;
(c) the Intelligence Community comprising-
(i) the Defence Intelligence Agency;
(ii) the National Intelligence Agency;
(iii) the State Security Services.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Pensions Office shall settle and make payment in respect of the retirement benefits of the paramilitary bodies over which it has responsibility throughout the Federation which shall involve-
(a) the maintenance of adequate records of all serving and retired officers;
(b) the computation of retirement benefits in accordance with the provisions of the Pensions Act.

(1) There shall be established and maintained for each Pensions Office, a fund from which shall be defrayed all expenditure incurred by the Pensions Office.
(2) There shall be paid and credited to the fund established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, such moneys as may, from time to time, be granted to the Pensions Office for the purpose of discharging its functions under this Act.
(3) The Pensions Office may, from time to time, apply the proceeds of the fund established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to the payment of pensions and gratuities of the para-military service over which it has responsibility.

The Pensions Office shall have power to invest its funds in such securities as may be approved by its board of trustees.

(1) There shall be established for each Pensions Office a board of trustees (in this Act referred to as "the Board").
(2) The Board shall consist of-
(a) a representative each of-
(i) the Ministry of Finance;
(ii) the Office of Establishment and Management Services; and
(b) a representative of-
(i) the Ministry supervising that particular Pensions Office;
(ii) the para-military body being serviced by the particular Pensions Office.
(3) The functions of the Board shall be to advise the appropriate authority on the management of the surplus funds of the Pensions Office.
(4) The appointment of the chairrnan and secretary, the Board and their functions shall be as specified in the trust deed.

The Pensions Office shall-(a) submit to the Minister of the supervising Ministry not later than 31 October in each year an estimate of its expenditure and income for the next succeeding year;
(b) prepare and submit to the Minister of the supervising Ministry, not later than 30 June in each year, a report in such form as he may direct on the activities of the Pensions Office during the immediately preceding year and shall include in such report a copy of the audited accounts of the Pensions Office for that year and the Auditor-Generals report thereon.

The accounts of each of the Pensions Offices shall be audited within six months after the end of each year by auditors appointed by the appropriate authority from the list and in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the Auditor-General for the Federation and the fees of auditors and the expenses of the audit generally sball be paid from the fund of the Pensions Office.

The appropriate authority may give to the Pensions Office directives of a general character or relating generally to matters of policy with regard to the exercise by the Pensions Office of its functions and it shall be the duty of the Pensions Office to comply with such directives.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"appropriate authority" means, in the case of-(a) the Police Pensions Office, the Minister of Police Affairs:
(b) the Nigerian Customs Service, the Minister of Finance;
(c) the Nigerian Immigration Service and Prisons Service, the Minister of Internal Affairs;
(d) the Intelligence Community, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

This Act may be cited as the Police and Other Agencies Pensions Offices (Establishment, etc.) Act.