APC Backs Sanwo-Olu on abolition of pension payment to Tinubu, Fashola, others

November 11 13:22 2020 by The Ajasa News Print This Article

By Benjamin Omoike, Lagos

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State chapter, has said it is in total support of the decision by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension and other entitlements to former governors and their deputies.

The governor made the announcement while presenting the 2021 budget to the Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday.

“Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, in light of keeping the costs of governance low and to signal selflessness in public service, we will be sending a draft executive bill to the House imminently for the repeal of the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension and other entitlements to former Governors and their Deputies,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Speaking on the matter, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, the state chairman of the party, said every right thinking Nigerian should support and applaud the decision by the governor, given the dwindling resources in the country.

He said Lagos State will channel the money into developing the state and providing infrastructure and other amenities for the teeming population of citizens in the state.

He said: “We are in total support of it. It is a good move and it must have been well thought out before the decision was made. It is a welcome idea as far as the party is concerned.

“In many states, we have seen many people complaining about such pensions to past governors and deputies.

“If we consider the dwindling revenue all over the country and the economy that is declining in terms of oil prices and what is derived as revenue from oil, it affects all the economy of all the states in the country.

“So, if such a decision is made by the governor, I don’t think it is a bad idea at all. Such money that would have used in paying the pension will be used in developing the respective states where such decisions have been made.”

“In Lagos, we believe we can channel such money into productive activity rather than perpetually paying the pensions of past governors. So, to us in Lagos APC, it is a welcome idea,” he said.