Time to address outrageous pensions for govs, deputies

The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, recently announced his intention to abolish the payment of pension and other entitlements to former governors of the state and their deputies. He made this known while presenting the 2021 budget to the Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. According to him, repealing the […]

The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, recently announced his intention to abolish the payment of pension and other entitlements to former governors of the state and their deputies.

He made this known while presenting the 2021 budget to the Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. According to him, repealing the Public Office Holder Act 2007 will reduce the cost of governance; adding that a bill to that effect will soon be sent to the Lagos Assembly for legislative approval. While Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomed the idea, Fashola said he was not a beneficiary of the pension and other packages mentioned.

Some former governors who are currently on pension include Chief John Oyegun, Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in Edo State; Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje and Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo in Gombe State; Senator Kabir Gaya, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau and the present governor, Abdullahi Ganduje (a former deputy governor under Kwanwaso) in Kano State; and Senator Abdullahi Adamu as well as Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in Nasarawa State.

While some states have few former governors, Kaduna State until the death of Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa last week had five each of former civilian and military governors in the state.

An investigation report published by Daily Trust in November 2019 revealed that former governors were drawing billions as retirement allowances from state governments. This was even as pension arrears of retired workers in most states continued to accumulate. Almost all ex-governors retain some security details for life.

While some states pay N300m as gratuity, others pay as low as N2.2m annually as pension. In addition, other states pay 300 per cent of annual basic salary every four years as furniture allowance. Free medical trips for ex-governors and their family members are provided in most states. Some states also provide two houses (one in own state and another in Abuja) for former governors.

Pension benefits of former governors and their deputies vary across the states. For example, the Gombe State Executive Pension Law enacted in 2008, provides for monthly salary for life to former governors and deputy governors. According to Section 3(1) of the Kano State Pension Rights of Governor and Deputy Governor Law 2007, a former governor and his deputy are entitled for life to a monthly allowance equivalent to a basic salary of a serving governor.

A former governor is also entitled to a six-bedroom house worth N250m at an area of his choice, while his deputy is entitled to a four-bedroom house in an area of his choice. In Bayelsa State, Former Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2003 makes provision of N3.66m for the former and N3.55 million for the latter.

There were nationwide apprehensions when these unreasonable pension laws for ex-governors and their deputies were passed by various states’ houses of assembly. With many state governments in the country struggling to pay their workers N30, 000 monthly minimum wage, they lack moral justification for the huge extra-budgetary expenditure on their former chief executives.

While the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) powers do not extend over pensions for former governors and their deputies, no law yet permits the beneficiaries to allocate such fat pensions to themselves.

The Commission only approved payment of 300 percent of basic salary as severance allowances to political office holders at the end of their tenure; suggesting that states’ pension laws were passed in error, and therefore illegal. The law establishing RMAFC charges it with the responsibility of approving salaries of political functionaries in the country.

The cost of governance including outrageous pension for former governors is taking a weighty toll on states’ resources; necessitating the call on government to address the phenomenon.

Like many other retired public officers, government support for governors and their deputies should, based on recommendations of the RMAFC for severance allowances, be modest and within the limit of what is reasonably required for their upkeep and sustenance after leaving office. Former governors and their deputies should be assets, not liabilities to their respective states.