Hidden Truth About the Life Pension Bill for Bayelsa House of Assembly

The Life Pension Bill for Bayelsa House of Assembly is actually a Bill that would have given peanuts to the Members of the House of Assembly and give Enviable Jaw dropping Life Pension to the Governor and Deputy Governor.

Bayelsa State House of Assembly on 24 April 2019 approved a bill which was just referred to as Life Pension Bill for House of Assembly and the bill would have given life pension to the tune of N500,000 for Speaker, N300,000 for Deputy Speaker, N250,000 for the Leader and Chief Whip of the House and N100,000 for ordinary members of the Assembly. The Bill was then sent to the Governor for his assent to pass the bill into a law.

The news about the Bill went viral and everyone urged the Governor to reject the Life Pension Bill for the House of Assembly. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) also sent an open letter to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State urging him to reject the proposed life pension bill by the leader of the House of Assembly Peter Akpe.

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State thereafter declined assent to the Bill, saying “I am not convinced about the legality of this Bill which seeks to expand the categories of persons entitled to pension. While I agree that the Assembly can adjust the quantum of pension payable to persons entitled to pension, I am not convinced that the House has powers to add to the categories of pensionable public officers”.

Investigations have now revealed that there were lots of information that the general public were not aware of on the Life Pension Bill for the Bayelsa House of Assembly.

To start with, the bill is an Executive bill, meaning it was sent to the House of Assembly by the Executive Arm of the government and the full title of the bill is actually “Pension Bill For Governors, Deputy Governors and Members of the State House of Assembly 2019”. The Bill was presented to the House of Assembly by the leader of the House of Assembly Peter Akpe because the leader of the House is responsibly for the presentation of Executive Bill. Furthermore, there is a law in Bayelsa called the “Bayelsa State Pensions for Governor and Deputy Governor Law 2003” which already gives enviable pension to Bayelsa Governor and Deputy Governor, and the 2019 bill would have replaced the 2003 bill with enviable jaw dropping life pension for the Governor and Deputy Governor.

See below the Proposed Enviable Jaw Dropping Life Pension for Bayelsa Governor and Deputy Governor.

The Governor’s Monthly Basic Salary shall be 8% of his Annual Basic Salary (ABS), Wardrobe Allowance 50% of ABS, Entertainment 40% of ABS, Transport Allowance 50% of ABS and Utilities 80% of ABS.

Deputy Governor on the other hand is entitled to Monthly Basic Salary of 8% of Annual Basic Salary (ABS), Wardrobe 25% of ABS, Entertainment 20% of ABS, Transport Allowance 30% of ABS and Utilities 40% of ABS.

The Bill also added that where the Governor and his Deputy successfully served second term of 8 years they shall be entitled to 150% of their Annual Basic Salary (ABS).

The Bill like most Executive pension law in Nigeria is not static, it provides that the above amounts “shall be reviewed from time to time to reflect 100% of the Annual Basis Salary (ABS) that an incumbent Governor or Deputy is entitled to as provided by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission. What this means in simple terms is that a former Governor and Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State would receive the same salary as any incumbent Governor and Deputy Governor at all times.

Furthermore, the bill provides that, a Governor is entitled to a residential 7 bedroom duplex accommodation and a three-room boys quarters in any location of his choice in the state.

A Deputy Governor on the other hand is entitled to one residential five bedroom duplex and a two-room boys quarters in any location of his choice in the state.

As if the above is not enough, the former Governor of Bayelsa is also entitled to two cars and one backup car to be replaced every five years, while a Deputy Governor shall have one Car and one backup car to be replaced every five years.

The State will also provide the Governor with three Drivers, a Cook, a Steward and a Gardener, who shall be pensionable while the deputy shall have two Drivers, a Cook and a Gardener who shall also be pensionable.

Finally the Governor is entitled to 60% of ABS for vacation while the deputy gets 40% of ABS for vacation.

The above fully reveals that the Bill called the Life Pension Bill for Bayelsa House of Assembly is actually a Bill to give Jaw Dropping Life Pension to Bayelsa Governor and Deputy Governor. While we can celebrate that the Bill was not signed into law by the Governor due to public outcry, lets bear in mind that the Governor and Deputy Governor will still enjoy envied pension backed by the “Bayelsa State Pensions for Governor and Deputy Governor Law 2003” which its details are not publicly available.

Read all Bayelsa State pension news HERE

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