The House of Representatives has moved to stop the Nigerian Army’s policy of automatically merging years spent in service as soldiers with years served as commissioned officers, warning that the practice is forcing experienced personnel out of service prematurely and creating avoidable manpower shortages.
The move followed the consideration of a motion on notice moved by Adamawa lawmaker, Zakaria Nyampa on the need to review and discontinue the automatic merger of service years for personnel commissioned through the Short Service Combatant Commission, Direct Short Service Commission and Direct Regular Commission.
Presenting the motion, Nyampa noted that the Nigerian Army currently operates a policy that automatically merges years spent in service as soldiers with years served as officers after commissioning.
He explained that the policy also counts periods spent in university education or awaiting commissioning as part of an officer’s total reckonable service.
According to him, “The practice is inconsistent with the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service 2017 (Revised), which defines an officer’s military service as “a period of unbroken service in the Armed Forces of Nigeria from the date of commission to the date of retirement.”
The lawmaker further argued that the policy violates the doctrine of legitimate expectation and principles of contractual fairness contained in Sections 7 and 91 of the Labour Act.
Nyampa told the House that beyond legal concerns, “The policy has wider implications for military operations and personnel management.”
He continued, “The automatic merger policy is discriminatory, undermines morale and cohesion within the officer corps, accelerates the retirement of experienced personnel, creates manpower gaps, increases recruitment costs, erodes institutional memory, and deviates from international best practices,” he added.
Adopting the motion, the House urged the Nigerian Army Council to discontinue the automatic merger of service years for officers commissioned through SSCC, DSSC and DRC and make such mergers optional, to be applied only upon the written request of affected officers for pension computation purposes.
Lawmakers also called on the Armed Forces Council to “Harmonise service reckonability across the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force to ensure fairness, cohesion and uniformity in military service regulations.”
The House further urged the Chief of Army Staff to “Undertake sensitisation programmes and issue transitional guidelines to eliminate ambiguity and prevent misinterpretation of any revised policy.”
Additionally, members called on the Nigerian Army Council to carry out “Legal and administrative reviews aimed at preventing potential litigation arising from what they described as the retroactive application of the policy.”
Consequently, the House mandated its Committee on Army to conduct comprehensive oversight on the matter, particularly regarding the rights, welfare and career progression of affected officers, and report back within four weeks.
The controversy centres on how service years are calculated for personnel who began their military careers as soldiers, ratings or airmen before subsequently earning commissions as officers through programmes such as the SSCC, DSSC or DRC.
Under the current arrangement, years spent in the ranks before commissioning are added to years served as officers when determining total length of service.
Critics argue that the practice shortens the active career span of commissioned officers because they reach statutory service limits earlier than counterparts who entered directly as officers.
Supporters of reform contend that while pre-commission service may legitimately count for pension and gratuity calculations, using the same period to determine retirement timelines for commissioned officers contradicts existing service regulations and places affected officers at a career disadvantage.
The issue has generated growing concern within military circles, with affected personnel warning that the policy could lead to the loss of experienced officers at a time when the armed forces continue to grapple with multiple security challenges across the country.
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