Kobojunkie:

Is this "Upkeep" meant for the pension and all benefits promised these ex-leaders?

TewMuch:

what upkeep? isnt every government official including the president owed pension after service? dont you see it also promises to take care of DEAD pples families? Do they have any idea how many children these men have? so Nigeria has become bank. OBJ himself is a serious breeder.

Kobojunkie:

Well, like it or not, a contract is a contract. As much as we do not like them, it would probably not be in our good to deny them, whatever benefits we promised them, now what we promised them simply because someone suddenly grew a conscience 2 minutes ago.

TewMuch:

Contract? if it was a contract they will not be trying to pass a bill. So Nigerian's should be responsible for leaders that do not have any right to even ask for pension, or be running free because of contract? The contract includes building them new houses and paying for all their aidea.  I know you are looking for a daft argument, so i willl just leave you here.

Kobojunkie:

Is this "Upkeep" meant for the pension and all benefits promised these ex-leaders?

Nigeria's former presidents and heads of state who are still alive should get an even better deal from the federal government this year following plans by the National Assembly to review their monthly welfare package upwards.

The legislature is planning to increase the former leaders' package from N250 million proposed in the 2010 budget to about N2 billion.

The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on appropriation, Ayo Adeseun, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with NEXT.

The money is meant to take care of the former leaders' pension, medicare, yearly vacation abroad, offices and general maintenance. This is besides the N500,000 each of the former leaders is reportedly paid whenever they attend the Council of State meeting, which is held periodically.

six families of deceased leaders and two families of deceased Vice-Presidents.

TewMuch:


The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental-Governmental Affairs on Wednesday rejected the N1.2bn proposal by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the upkeep of former Heads of State and their deputies.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said his conscience would not permit him to defend it before the Senate Committee on Appropriation to which he directed the SGF.

Adeyemi was visibly angry at the proposal.

He told the SGF, “I will not be able to defend this before the appropriation committee. My conscience will not permit me to do that. I think that these retired Heads of State should be able to take care of their needs, but we are still paying so much in the face of people not being able to eat three square meals a day. It is unfair.

“I cannot understand why we are going to be spending so much money on former Heads of State who presided over the affairs of this country rightly and wrongly when we are growing an army of unemployed youths who are now capable of staging a revolution.

“It is unfair to set aside N2bn for a few people who were part of those who mismanaged this country when there are no jobs, when there are no drugs in the hospitals and there is so much poverty in the land.”

But Adeyemi noted that though the Act had come into force, he stood against it as it did not represent the interest of the people of Nigerians.


According to him, [b]he would continue to oppose the implementation of the Act, hoping that someday the Act would be revisited for a possible repeal or amendment.[/b]http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110217317617

Kilode?!:

Wetin be this?

So families now inherit the "pension" largess? I thought they stop paying pension to civil servants at their death. Which families? They can't find work ni?

bencobenz:

The guy who proposed this bill ought to be stone to death, after all the mismanagement of resources by these former Heads of State we should still continue to pay them. Most Nigerians cannot afford 3 square meal per day, yet they want us to pay those that can fend for themselves.

karl max:

Who signed the contract with.the nigerian people? Or you refering to our sham we call constitution that the military juntas imposed on us?