The Kano State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed the ‘Pensions Rights of Speaker and Deputy Law 2019’ legislation , which approves life pensions for Speakers, and their deputies after they leave the office.
Similarly, the former speakers and the deputies will now enjoy foreign medical trips and new vehicles every four year.
The bill will become law if signed by the governor of the state.
The motion for the passage of the bill into law was moved by the majority leader and member representing Kano Municipal in the House, Baffa Babba-Dangundi.
According to the new law, “There shall be paid pensions to persons who held office as Speaker and Deputy Speaker equal to the emoluments of a serving Speaker and deputy speaker, provided that either the Speaker or the Deputy do not hold any paid elective or selective appointment.’’
A part of the new law states that ”any speaker or deputy that is impeached by the members will not benefit from the pension and other perks provided by the law.”
It stated that “Any person duly elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall, on completion of his term be entitled to a grant of pension for life by the state, provided that such person was not removed from office through impeachment by members of the House of Assembly.
“Pension shall be payable to the Speaker or Deputy Speaker at the expiration of the tenure of the holder of the office.
“Where the Speaker or Deputy vacates office before the expiration of the term of his office, not as a result of impeachment, he shall be paid pension pro-rata the number of years he spent in relation to his tenure of office.
“Where the Speaker or Deputy Speaker dies in office before the expiration of the term of his tenure, he shall be paid pension pro-rata the number of years he spent in relation to his tenure of office.
“There shall be provided for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker a brand new vehicle to be bought by the State Government every four years. There shall be provided for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker medical expenses either home or abroad depending on the nature of the illness.”
The house also amended ‘the governors and deputy governors pension law’.
A spokesperson for the house, Ali Kofar-Kudu, told PREMIUM TIMES the amended law exempted former governors and deputy governors from the scheme.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how an attempt to amend a standing rule in the Jigawa House of Assembly, on Tuesday, led to fisticuffs among members and the eventual destruction of the mace.
The rowdy session started when the Speaker of the house, Isa Idris, announced a ‘decision’ to amend the house standing rule aimed at banning all impeached former assembly speakers and deputy speakers from vying for the position of the speaker in subsequent assemblies.
The amended rule also sought to disqualify any principal officer who was suspended or impeached from re-contesting.
