BREAKING: Tinubu Asked to Stop Wike, Umahi, Other Ex-Governors from Collecting Life Pensions
- SERAP has urged President Bola Tinubu to prevent his ministers, who are former governors, from receiving life pensions from their respective states
- The nonprofit organization warned of potential legal action if the ministers continue to collect pensions while serving in the current administration
- Those affected include Nyesom Wike, Abubakar Badaru, Bello Matawalle, Gboyega Oyetola, and others
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FCT, Abuja - The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked President Bola Tinubu to stop his ministers, who are former governors, from collecting life pensions from their states.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan, legal and advocacy organisation made the call in a statement released on Sunday, August 20.
Source: Facebook
SERAP, in the statement sighted by Legit.ng, threatened to take the Nigerian president to court should he fail to stop the ministers from collecting pensions as ex-governors.
List of ministers affected
- Nyesom Wike (Rivers state)
- Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa state)
- Bello Matawalle (Zamfara state)
- Gboyega Oyetola (Osun state)
- David Umahi (Ebonyi state)
- Simon Lalong (Plateau state)
- Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi state)
- Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe state)
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"BREAKING: We’ve asked President Tinubu to stop former governors Wike, Abubakar, Matawalle, Oyetola, Umahi, Lalong, Bagudu and Geidam from collecting life pensions from their states while they serve as ministers in his administration, or face legal action," the statement read.
Ex-governors’ jumbo pension package
A 2016 report by Business Day indicates that thousands of retired civil servants in Nigeria struggle without pensions, while many serving civil servants go unpaid for months; yet former state governors, who served a maximum of eight years, receive substantial pensions.
According to the report, even ex-governors currently in public service receive double remuneration, taking their new salaries and hefty pension allowances from their state governments.
The investigation found that former governors' annual pension allowances range from ₦5.5 million to as high as ₦300 million, depending on the state's financial status and the extent of political influence in passing pension laws.
Gbenga Daniel asks Ogun governor to suspend his pension
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Gbenga Daniel, the former governor of Ogun State, told his predecessor and current governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun, to suspend the payment of his pension, which roughly amounts to about N700,000.
In a tweet on Friday, July 6, Daniel said he made the request after his inauguration as a member of the 10th Senate.
"This decision, I made, in good conscience, moral principles and guiding ethics," he said.
Source: Legit.ng
