BREAKING: Tinubu approves $20,000 medical allowance, bulletproof SUVs for retired service chiefs

President Bola Tinubu has approved an extensive and generous retirement package for Nigerian service chiefs and retired generals, providing them with a host of luxurious benefits, including bullet-proof SUVs, medical treatment, domestic aides, and more.

The retirement perks are outlined in the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service (HTCOS) for Officers and Enlisted Personnel in the Nigerian Armed Forces, signed by the president on December 14, 2024.

According to a report by Punch, the newly approved package offers the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and other service chiefs a bullet-proof SUV or its equivalent as a retirement benefit, which will be replaced every four years and maintained by the military. Additionally, each service chief will receive a backup vehicle, such as a Peugeot 508.

Retiring generals will be entitled to various perks, including annual $20,000 allowances for international and local medical treatment, with the package for the CDS and service chiefs likely exceeding this amount.

These benefits include domestic aides, residential guards, a personal assistant, three service drivers, a service orderly, and escorts provided by military units.

For the top-ranking officers, such as lieutenant generals and equivalents, the HTCOS outlines further benefits, including two Toyota Hilux vehicles or one Toyota Land Cruiser, $20,000 annually for medical treatment, two cooks, two stewards, four residential guards, and two drivers.

Major generals and brigadier generals are eligible for $15,000 annual medical treatment, a Toyota Land Cruiser, and domestic staff. One-star officers will receive $10,000 annually for medical care and a Toyota Camry or equivalent, along with similar domestic and security provisions.

In addition to these luxuries, the retirement package includes allowances for personal firearms retention (to be retrieved upon the officer’s passing), free medical cover both in Nigeria and abroad, and the provision of domestic aides such as service cooks, stewards, and a civilian gardener.