Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo, has scrapped payment of
pensions to former governors, deputy governors, speakers and deputy speakers of
the state.
On Friday, Uzodinma assented to a bill repealing the law
that created pension allowances and gratuities for the former officials.
The governor said the law runs contrary to the 1999
constitution which stipulates that a pensioner must have worked for at least 10
years and must be up to 45 years of age.
“Apart from the inconsistency of such a law to the
provisions of the ground norm, which is the constitution of 1999 (as amended),
this has led for a very long time a precedence that does not encourage
diligence and prudence in service delivery,” he said.
He also regretted a situation where some of the
beneficiaries of such payments also get huge amounts of money as salaries and
allowances in other positions they occupied such as serving as senators or
members of the house of representatives.
Rochas Okorocha, a former governor of the state, is
currently representing Imo west at the senate.
Last year, Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara, had also
cancelled pension for ex-governors, deputy governors, speakers and deputy
speakers.
A poll in 2016 had shown massive opposition to life pension
for ex-governors, legislators.
Uzodinma thanked the state house of assembly for “rising to
the occasion” and embracing the desire of the government to strengthen the
internally generated revenue (IGR) base of the state.
Chiji Collins, speaker of the house, on his part said the
legislature presented two bills for the governor’s assent: the bill on Imo
State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and bill on the
repeal of pensions and gratuity.
He said that the bill on pensions and gratuity has long been
repealed in many states of the federation when it was discovered to run
contrary to the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com