Not long, the payment of pension to former governors and former deputy governors in Lagos State will be a thing of the past.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Tuesday, told the House of Assembly while presenting his 2021 Appropriation Bill that he would soon send an executive bill to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007) that empowers the state government to pay pension and provide other welfare benefits, including houses in Lagos and Abuja, vehicles and other accoutrements of comfort to the former governors and their deputies.
Sanwo-Olu, who proposed an N1.155 trillion estimate to the legislature for approval for the 2021 fiscal year, told the lawmakers that the aim of repealing the law is to free the state government of the legal obligations, saying it is a step to reduce the cost of governance.
Meanwhile, SERAP Tuesday welcomed the move by Sanwo-Olu to scrap the state life pensions for former governors and deputy governors.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Mr. Kolawole Oludare, said: “This is a welcome development in line with our consistent advocacy on accountability in governance over the years.
More particularly, this is in compliance with the judgment of Honourable Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in SERAP v. Attorney General of the Federation, mandating the Attorney-General of the Federation to challenge the legality of state pension laws and recover monies paid unlawfully to former governors and their deputies.
“SERAP urges the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), to immediately fulfil his promise to enforce the judgment in suit number FHC/L/CS/1497/2017 to recover pensions already collected and challenge the legality of all life pension laws in states across the country.”
