Rivers State Assembly Likely to Repeal Pension Law for Ex-Governors.

Rivers State House of Assembly likely to repeal the mouth watering Governor and Deputy Governor Pensions and Fringe Benefits Act passed into Law in 2012. This was disclosed by a lawmaker to The Guardian, who said that the law, which is generally considered outrageous and obscene would be repealed, as it was not in the best interest of the state.

Besides the huge financial rewards to former governor and their deputies, the state government was obliged to build houses for them in Rivers and in Abuja in any area of their choice. The law also allowed the state to buy three new vehicles that would be replaced every year for the governors and 300% funding for any furniture of their choice, among others.

He explained that Governor Nyesom Wike, who opposed the law in the first instance declined to implement the Act since he assumed office in 2015. The lawmaker stated that the feud between Wike and his predecessor and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, under whose administration the law was enacted, may have also contributed to the non-implementation of the law.

He noted that the House recently repealed the Rivers State Reserve Fund Law 2008, which made it mandatory for the state to save N1b monthly. He also revealed that the state lawmakers hinged the decision to repeal the law on the fact that it empowered the governor to liquidate the funds just as the immediate past administration did.