₦airaland Forum

The Lagos State House of Assembly has
introduced a bill seeking to provide lavish
post-retirement benefits to the Speaker and
Deputy Speaker, with proposals for
extravagant life pension, accommodation,
security and medical cover for the two
officials and their families.
The bill is seeking to amend the state’s Public
Office Holder Law of 2007 which already
provides those benefits to past governors and
their deputies.
The existing law was pushed through by
Ahmed Tinubu who was governor between
1999 and 2007.
The lawmakers now want to extend the
largesse to themselves, and the amendment
seeks to insert the words “and includes the
Speaker (and) the Deputy Speaker of the
Lagos State House of Assembly” after “State”
in the interpretation of “Public Office
Holder.”
The move is coming as the All Progressives
Congress, APC, the ruling party in the state,
rallies widespread support as it seeks to
defeat the Peoples Democratic Party at the
federal level, with a pledge to drastically cut
down the cost of governance.
According to the bill “A Law to Amend the
Law to Provide For the Payment of Pensions
and Other Benefits to Public Office Holders in
Lagos State and For Connected Purposes,” a
copy of which was made available to
PREMIUM TIMES, the Speaker, as well as his
Deputy, will be receiving 100 percent of their
annual basic salary as pension.
The sum is to be reviewed every five years or
when there is salary review of the political
office holders by the Revenue Mobilisation
Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
The bill also aims to provide both officers
with one car each and one residential house
each at any location of their choice in Lagos
as well as free medical treatment.
The law holds that any person who held
office as an elected governor or deputy
governor is entitled to an annual basic salary
equal to 100 per cent of the annual salary of
the incumbent governor or deputy-governor
of Lagos State, subject to review every five
years or salary review by the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission
in line with section 210 (3) of the constitution
as amended in 2011.
According to the law: “Any person duly elected as public office
holder shall upon the successful completion of his term be
entitled to a grant of pension for life by the state; Provided
that such a person shall not be entitled to a grant of pension
under this law if he was removed from office by the process
of impeachment or for breach of any provision of the
constitution.’’
The bill also follows a recent amendment to the Nigerian
Constitution allowing the Senate President and deputy,
Speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy, to
enjoy life pensions and other premium perks.
Those benefits were only available to past presidents and
Chief Justices of the Federation.
The amendment to the Constitution emanated from the two
chambers, and has been approved by more than 24 states
assembly, effectively making it law.
Several Nigerian governors have also perfected secret laws in
their respective states, granting billions of naira worth of
benefits for themselves and their families when they leave
office.
Nigerians reacts
A Lagos based Constitutional lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, described the
move by the Lagos State House of Assembly as “insensitive
and irresponsible”.
“They are not taking into account the vast issue of the
prohibitive cost of governance that the political party in
charge of Lagos State claims it want to prune down,” Mr.
Ogunye said.
“The legislature in this political environment can claim they
want to follow what is practised elsewhere, I mean the issue of
congressmen being on life pension. But that is still a
controversial issue in America.
“However, the argument against that is that political officers
are not career public servants, like civil servants who gain
employment and work for their entire life before they retire.
“How could politicians who begged the electorates for votes
get into that office and start dreaming of how to pay
themselves for life?”
Mr. Ogunye said that Lagosians have a duty to stop this kind
of “legislative rascality”, noting that the legislature ought to
have revisited the Public Office Holder Law introduced by the
executive and scrap it.
“If they are not able to curtail the excesses of the executive,
they should not add salt to injury by saying that what is good
for the goose is good for the gander
“What they are doing is engaging in statutory stealing, using
the law to sanctify official stealing. That is not why they are
there. And what are they doing to be entitled to life salary?”
According to Debo Adeniran, Executive Director of Coalition
Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Lagosians should have risen
up when the Public Office Holder Law was signed in 2007.
“The thing about bourgeoisie politics is the capacity of
politicians to make more than enough money for themselves,”
said Mr. Adeniran, whose organization kicked against the law
in 2007.
“We have always advocated for part-time legislature and for
politicians to leave all the requisites of office after their
tenure.
“But if Lagosians had tolerated this at the level of the
executive, then there is no moral standing to say that the law
shouldn’t include other arms of government.”
Details of new bill
Highlights of the existing Lagos State Public Office Holder Law
include:
Annual basic salary: 100 percent of annual basic salaries of
the incumbent governor and deputy.
Accommodation: One residential house in Lagos and another
in FCT for the former governor; one residential house in Lagos
for the deputy.
Transport: Three cars, two back-up cars and one pilot car for
the ex-governor, to be replaced every three years; two cars,
one back-up car and one pilot car for the deputy, also to be
replaced every three years.
Furniture: 300 percent of annual basic salary every two years.
House maintenance: 10 percent of annual basic salary.
Domestic staff: Cook, steward, gardener and other domestic
staff who shall be pensionable.
Medical: Free medical treatment for ex-governor and deputy
and members of their families.
Security: Two SSS operatives, one female officer, eight
policemen (four each for house and personal security) for the
ex-governor; one SSS operative and two policemen (one each
for house and personal security) for the deputy.
Personal Assistant: 25 percent of annual basic salary.
Car maintenance: 30 percent of annual basic salary.
Entertainment: 10 percent of annual basic salary.
Utility: 20 percent of annual basic sa

tawa89:
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/177922-lagos-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-give-speaker-deputy-life-pension-lavish-benefits.html

All hail Tif nubu the bogos pension pacesetter

LMAO......THE FIGHTERS OF KWORRUPTION.. That's how we fight KWORRUPTION here..

Waste of resources

RESERVED PARKING..

CHANGE is the answer...