The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and other 13 former governors in the 10th Senate to “disclose the total amount of life pensions, if any, that have been received from your states as former governors.”
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called out 14 former governors in the 10th Senate, urging them to reveal whether they have been receiving life pensions from their respective states.
“Collecting life pensions as former governors while in the Senate would clearly violate constitutional provisions and amount to taking advantage of entrusted public positions.”
SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, has appealed to the former governors to stop collecting any such pensions and return the pensions collected to the treasury, stating clearly that collecting such amounts would go against constitutional provisions and be considered taking advantage of public positions in a statement made on Sunday.
“Nigerians expect you to act in the public interest including by ending the collection of any life pensions from your respective states and returning any such pensions that may have been collected to the treasury,”
The group has emphasized that Nigerians expect the lawmakers to work in the public interest and thus seize the collection of life pensions as former governors while in the Senate. They insist that any previously collected pensions should also be returned to the treasury.
The group listed former governors that received pensions as Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom State); Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi State); Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State); Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto State); and Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger State).Others are: Ibrahim Danwkambo (Gombe State); Danjuma Goje (Gombe State); Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara State); Gbenga Daniel (Ogun State); Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto State); Orji Kalu (Abia State); Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe State); and Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa State).
SERAP has listed out former governors who have received such pensions, including Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom State), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State), and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara State), among others.
The group identified states implementing life pensions for former governors to include Akwa-Ibom, Abia, Edo, Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi, Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Benue, Gombe, Yobe, Taraba, Kaduna, Plateau, Katsina, Rivers, and Delta. Many of these states owe workers’ salaries and remain the poorest in the country.”
The group revealed that several states in Nigeria still pay pensions to former governors, including Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu, many of which struggle financially and owe considerable amounts of workers’ salaries. SERAP believes that ex-governors who collect pensions, while in office, would be against the constitutional provisions and an abuse of public trust.
