FORMER presidents of the country and military heads of state may lose the life benefits approved last year, by the Senate for them, their wives and children.

On the list also are Senate presidents, their deputies, speaker of the House of Representatives, their deputies and chief justices.

The Senate had, last year, through the passage of a bill for an Act to provide remunerations for former presidents, heads of the federal legislative houses and chief justices of the federation, approved the benefits.

The bill stipulated that members of the families of the deceased former presidents and vice-presidents would be entitled to annual payments, as shall be recommended by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and approved by the National Assembly and in manner as shall also be prescribed by the National Assembly.

But, on Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs declined to lobby for funds for them in the 2011 budget.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, told officers from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who were in the National Assembly to defend their 2011 budget, that he could not defend the request.

Senator Adeyemi’s refusal was hinged on the fact that past presidents did not deserve that treatment, because they were comfortable, while he insisted that they had “mismanaged Nigeria.”

According to him, “my conscience will not allow me to champion it. The past leaders should sacrifice the perk for the development and employment which they failed to provide during their reigns.

“Tell them to sacrifice. The hospitals have no drugs, the roads are bad, there is no electricity and most graduates are unemployed.”

The Permanent Secretary in the office of the SGF, Mr Taiye Haruna, who represented the Head of Service, said former presidents were to be provided with a five-bedroom duplex within Nigeria; allowance for their staff, and three vehicle to be replaced every three years.

He added that the former presidents are also to enjoy free medical treatment abroad and a luxurious treat whenever they are in Abuja.

But Smart Adeyemi disclosed that “In a situation where there are a lot of unemployed graduates roaming the streets and threatening a revolution, rather than give this money to them, we should use it to generate employments.”.

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