FG demands list of ex-governors, ministers collecting double pay, SERAP responds
- The controversy surrounding ex-governors and ministers receiving double pay is still on
- Reacting to a court judgement, the federal government asked SERAP to provide a list of former governors and ministers receiving double pay
- SERAP had gone to court to challenge the practice of ex-governors and other ex-public officials collecting such pensions
- Not one to back down, the civil society organisation has released names of those who it claims are receiving double pay
Following claims by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) that some former governors and ministers have received and/or are still receiving double pay and life pensions, the federal government has asked the group to furnish it with a list of culprits.
Nigeria's justice minister and attorney general of the federation, Abukabar Malami, in a letter addressed to SERAP, said: "Send the full list of former governors and ministers that have received and/or receiving double pay and life pensions in order to enhance and ensure compliance with the judgment of the court.”
Malami’s letter with reference number MJ/LIT/ABJ/CMC/661/793, was signed on his behalf by Anne C. Akwiwu (Mrs), Director Civil Litigation and Public Law Department, Vanguard reports.
The letter was in response to a court judgment in 2019 which ordered the government to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws and recover public funds collected by former governors and ministers.
Source: UGC
SERAP had sent a letter to the minister, asking him to persuade Nigeria's leader President Muhammadu Buhari to enforce the judgement.
Premium Times reports that the rights group in response to Malami's challenge of providing the list of culprits dated March 5, said it hopes the court judgment will be implemented duly and promptly for the sake of integrity, accountability and proper management of public resources by state governors.
It gave a list of governors and ministers who are guilty of the accusation.
While many states find it hard to pay salaries, some political actors, especially the governors, have insulated themselves with some selfish laws which grant them jumbo allowances and pensions after leaving office.
Some of these governors leave the office to become senators or federal ministers. Thus, they end up collecting salaries and allowances as senators/ministers as well as collecting jumbo pensions and allowances.
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To stop what has been described as a daylight robbery, SERAP dragged the federal government to court to compel it to recover the pensions and allowances received by the former and serving senators as ex-governors.
Subsequently, the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos asked the federal government to recover the jumbo payments.
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