A former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has asked state governors to emulate Governor Alex Otti of Abia State in repealing laws supporting the payment of pensions to former governors and deputies in their states.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Abia State Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday to repeal the 2001 law under which former governors and deputy governors in the state were paid pensions that include houses in Abia and Abuja at the state’s expense and lifetime salaries.
At least two former governors of the state have said they did not receive the pensions despite the existence of the law and the state government has not provided details of the beneficiaries so far and how much has been spent on the ex-officials.
The repeal of the law also follows previous calls by civil society groups who had called for the cancellation of such laws in states where they exist.
Obasanjo speaks
Speaking on Friday when he visited Mr Otti in his private residence, Mr Obasanjo commended the governor for his courage in repealing the law, according to a statement by Mr Otti’s spokesperson, Kazie UKo.
The former president described the pension law as a “rascality” and “act as daylight robbery,” considering that retired workers were owed their pensions.
“I watched the television and I saw repealing of Abia pensions and I asked you what exactly is this, and you said to me that the pension scheme for former governors here was too outrageous.
“It’s like trouble because it allowed them to have a house in Abuja and elsewhere, and it allowed them to cart away with whatever they can, yet the pensions of ordinary people from 2014 were unpaid,” he told the governor.
“What sort of leadership! You came and said there would be an end to that rascality. I congratulate you, and I say to you, I hope that your colleagues will follow your footsteps?” Mr Obasanjo added.
‘More work needs to be done’
The former president, while congratulating Mr Otti on his emergence as governor of the state, reminded him that a lot of work needed to be done.
“There is still a lot of work to be done. I said to you, you have started, but you should never be tired.
“Don’t be discouraged; you will be abused, you will be called names but if we have one-third of our states doing what should be done, this country will be a different country,” he said.
Mr Obasanjo urged the governor to pay attention to the infrastructural development of the Abia State, explaining that with infrastructure and good leadership, the state will attain greater heights.
“I will urge you to pay adequate attention to infrastructure because if you give infrastructure and you give the type of leadership you are giving, the people of the state will have nothing to worry about. On their own, they are enterprising. All they need is the leadership that will give them all the encouragement.
“I have always maintained that if there is any zone in this country that could really give what I call regional development, it’s the South-east geo-political zone because you are almost monolithic in everything,” he said.
Responding, Mr Otti assured the former president that his (Otti) administration was focused on infrastructural development, especially in Aba, the commercial hub of the state.
The governor said his administration had, in the last nine months, completed and commissioned 10 roads in Aba, while 31 other roads are at different stages of completion.
“We also have a 67.4-kilometre road we commissioned a few weeks ago that connects Umuahia through Uzuakoli and terminates at Ohafia,” he stated.
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