Governor Akinwunmi Ambode Loses Abuja Mansion Pension.
The immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode will not get a House in a choice area in Abuja as part of his pension but what he will get as pension for being Lagos State governor for 4 years is far more than what any 35 years pensioner can ever dream of.
The Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension) Law No 11 official Gazette of Lagos State, 2007 states that former governors of the state are entitled to a house each in any location of their choice in Lagos and Abuja.
Section 2 further says that, “One residential house each for the governor and the deputy governor at any location of their choice in Lagos State and one residential house in the Federal Capital Territory for the governor on two consecutive terms.”
Since Akinwunmi Ambode did not serve for two terms as Governor of Lagos State, he is not entitled to a House in a choice location in Abuja but what he is entitled to is far more than what any person who served the state for 35 years can ever dream of.
In addition to a house in a choice area in Lagos State, Ambode will also be entitled to 6 (six) new cars every 3 (three) years, 100% of the basic salary of the current governor, as well as free medical care for him and his family members.
He is also entitled to furniture allowance which is 300% of annual basic salary, house maintenance allowance which is 10% of annual basic salary, utility allowance which is 20% of annual basic salary and car maintenance allowance which is 30% of the annual basic salary.
It doesn’t stop there, other benefits include entertainment allowance which is 10% of the annual basic salary and a personal assistant who will earn 25% of the governor’s annual basic salary.
Furthermore, the law also adds that a former governor is entitled to domestic workers comprising a cook, a steward, a gardener and others whose appointments are pensionable and will be paid by the state.
Finally, a former governor in Lagos State will also be entitled to 8 (eight) policemen and 2 (two) officials of the Department of State Services to protect them for life.
It’s necessary to note that this is not specific to Akinwunmi Ambode, this is the normal pension for past Lagos State governors and their deputies and alot of people have been benefiting from the pension, people like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola, Femi Pedro, Abiodun Ogunleye, Sarah Sosan, and Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire. In 2015 the law was also amended to include past Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly.
Akinwunmi Ambode and his deputy, Oluranti Adebule will now also be added to the list of those to be benefiting from this enviable mouth watering life pension.
As concerned citizens we dont even know, neither can we estimate, how much is being spent on our glorious past leaders from tax payers money because the “Lagos State Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension) Law” does not set limits for how much can be spent on building houses, procuring vehicles, health issues etc on past Lagos State Governors and their deputies and Lagos State hardly honours Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
To buttress the fact that Lagos State does not make alot of these information available to the public, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in its 2018 Accountability Index scored Lagos 29% on government transparency which was below the percentage for Kaduna, Abia, Kebbi, Ekiti and Jigawa states.