Following in the footsteps of his Lagos State counterpart, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq has presented an executive bill to repeal the law granting payment of monthly pension to former Governors and the deputy governors to the state House of Assembly.
The Kwara State Asembly Speaker, Yakubu Danladi, announced the presentation of the Bill during Wednesday’s plenary while reading the Governor’s message to the House
The presentation of the executive bill by the governor was in response to the wish of the citizenry.
The Speaker, while presenting the governor’s request, said the bill was tailored toward realising the cardinal objective of the state government on prudent management of resources.
All members at the plenary unanimously agreed that the bill had passed first reading after the presentation of the governor’s request for consideration.
Danladi later referred the bill to the House Committee on Rules and Business to slate the bill for deliberation during the next legislative sitting of the House.
While presenting the 2021 budget, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu had stated that he will soon present an executive bill to the state House of Assembly to repeal the law on pension to former governors and deputies in the state.
Sanwo-Olu said the move was part of measures to conserve resources for the development of the state and cut the cost of governance.
In 2007, shortly before the end of tenure of the former state governor, Bola Tinubu, the State House of Assembly passed a pension law for erstwhile governors and their deputies.
According to the terms of this law, the ex-governors are entitled to N30 million annually, a house in Lagos and Abuja, six brand new cars every three years, medical allowances in any part of the world and other juicy allowances.
The entitlement of the deputy is similar, but a scale low, but nonetheless, consider a big burden on the finance of the state.
Many states of the federation had also followed the Lagos examples to enact similar laws to provide pensions for former governors and their deputies against the outcry of many Nigerians opposing the move.
