President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), is to lead a campaign to repeal the pension laws for governors enacted by many states of the federation, Vanguard has learnt.
The proposal by the incoming president is based on what sources close to him affirm as the incongruity of the laws under the country’s socio-economic environment and also, as a way of demonstrating moral leadership from the top.
Majority of the nation’s 36 state Houses of Assembly have enacted generous pension entitlements for governors that in many cases provide 100 per cent pay for the incumbent governors buildings, generous medical allowances for them and their family members and annual holiday provisions, all of which are to last for life. Provisions in the pension allowances are also made for staff, security and vehicles that are renewable every three or four years.
Buhari’s inclination towards a review of the pension for former governors was first publicly declared few days to the presidential election at the All Progressives Congress, APC, retreat in Owerri, Imo State.
It’s scandalous
A source conversant with the development disclosed that Buhari told the governors that there was no way Nigeria could survive under the financial weight of the pensions that had been earmarked for governors. He was said to have described the pension laws as enacted by states controlled by APC and PDP governors as scandalous.
According to the source, “he was very blunt about it and said that it was something that was going to be done immediately, especially because it is not something that can be sustained.
“The feeling was that not only was it wrong and morally unconscionable, but that it was not something that should be encouraged, and he was appealing to them that it should be changed.”
However, the response of the governors, who were present at the retreat, was not immediately given.
It’s a welcome proposal —Keyamo
The development was, yesterday, welcomed by leading Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, who described it as a fantastic proposal but disclosed that it was something that could, however, only be accomplished through moral suasion.
“Fantastic, fantastic. It is a very welcome proposal,” the Lagos lawyer, who backed General Buhari against President Goodluck Jonathan in last month’s presidential election said.
He, however, said the proposal was something that Buhari could only effect through moral suasion as the pension acts were enacted by state Houses of Assembly.
The crave for financial safety out of office was recently also extended to the legislature after the Lagos State House of Assembly passed pension laws to guarantee generous pension entitlements with proposals for former presiding officers of the house.
States that have passed the law
Many states of the federation had steadily been passing the law since return to civil rule. States like Lagos, Edo, Gombe, Oyo, and Rivers have passed the law, through which several former governors are already drawing applicable benefits, which in some cases are 100 per cent of what the incumbent is earning, while in others, some benefits in the pension laws are as high as 300 per cent of what obtains in some states.
100% of basic salary in Lagos
The Lagos State Governor and Deputy Governor Pensions Law of 2007 provides that “a former governor and family (spouse and children both married and unmarried) are entitled to free medical treatment which is not capped. Another highlight is that the ex-governor is entitled to a cook, steward, gardener and other domestic staff who are pensionable.
The benefits:
Annual Basic Salary: 100% of annual basic salaries of the incumbent governor and deputy.
Accommodation: One residential house in Lagos and another in FCT for the former governor; one residential house in Lagos for the deputy.
Transport: Three cars, two backup cars and one pilot car for the ex-governor every three years; two cars, two backup cars and one pilot car for the deputy governor every three years.
Furniture: 300 per cent of the annual salary.
The proposal by the incoming president is based on what sources close to him affirm as the incongruity of the laws under the country’s socio-economic environment and also, as a way of demonstrating moral leadership from the top.
Majority of the nation’s 36 state Houses of Assembly have enacted generous pension entitlements for governors that in many cases provide 100 per cent pay for the incumbent governors buildings, generous medical allowances for them and their family members and annual holiday provisions, all of which are to last for life. Provisions in the pension allowances are also made for staff, security and vehicles that are renewable every three or four years.
Buhari’s inclination towards a review of the pension for former governors was first publicly declared few days to the presidential election at the All Progressives Congress, APC, retreat in Owerri, Imo State.
It’s scandalous
A source conversant with the development disclosed that Buhari told the governors that there was no way Nigeria could survive under the financial weight of the pensions that had been earmarked for governors. He was said to have described the pension laws as enacted by states controlled by APC and PDP governors as scandalous.
According to the source, “he was very blunt about it and said that it was something that was going to be done immediately, especially because it is not something that can be sustained.
“The feeling was that not only was it wrong and morally unconscionable, but that it was not something that should be encouraged, and he was appealing to them that it should be changed.”
However, the response of the governors, who were present at the retreat, was not immediately given.
It’s a welcome proposal —Keyamo
The development was, yesterday, welcomed by leading Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, who described it as a fantastic proposal but disclosed that it was something that could, however, only be accomplished through moral suasion.
“Fantastic, fantastic. It is a very welcome proposal,” the Lagos lawyer, who backed General Buhari against President Goodluck Jonathan in last month’s presidential election said.
He, however, said the proposal was something that Buhari could only effect through moral suasion as the pension acts were enacted by state Houses of Assembly.
The crave for financial safety out of office was recently also extended to the legislature after the Lagos State House of Assembly passed pension laws to guarantee generous pension entitlements with proposals for former presiding officers of the house.
States that have passed the law
Many states of the federation had steadily been passing the law since return to civil rule. States like Lagos, Edo, Gombe, Oyo, and Rivers have passed the law, through which several former governors are already drawing applicable benefits, which in some cases are 100 per cent of what the incumbent is earning, while in others, some benefits in the pension laws are as high as 300 per cent of what obtains in some states.
100% of basic salary in Lagos
The Lagos State Governor and Deputy Governor Pensions Law of 2007 provides that “a former governor and family (spouse and children both married and unmarried) are entitled to free medical treatment which is not capped. Another highlight is that the ex-governor is entitled to a cook, steward, gardener and other domestic staff who are pensionable.
The benefits:
Annual Basic Salary: 100% of annual basic salaries of the incumbent governor and deputy.
Accommodation: One residential house in Lagos and another in FCT for the former governor; one residential house in Lagos for the deputy.
Transport: Three cars, two backup cars and one pilot car for the ex-governor every three years; two cars, two backup cars and one pilot car for the deputy governor every three years.
Furniture: 300 per cent of the annual salary.
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