Tuesday, 25 May 2021: A bill to stop the payment of pension to former governors and their deputies in Lagos State has passed the second reading in the Lagos house of assembly.

The bill was submitted to the House of Assembly on November 20, 2020, by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor.

With the bill, Sanwo-Olu seeks an amendment to the Payment of Pension Law (2017), a move to stop huge amounts paid to former governors and their deputies.

 The second reading of the bill held on Monday and was presided over by the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa.

CEOAFRICA report that at least 24 states across Nigeria enacted laws providing generous pensions to their former governors and their deputies.

In Lagos, for instance, the two elected officials are entitled to houses in Abuja and Lagos, six new cars every three years, 100 per cent of the incumbent governor’s basic salary (for the governor), and free healthcare for their family members, among others.

If enacted, the bill will scrap payment of these benefits to former governors in the state, including Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress.

Several arguments arose from the second reading of the bill by members of the House, with some in support of the bill.

Rotimi Abiru, representing Shomolu II, said the “The public office holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007)” should be amended rather than repealed.