Advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has portrayed as a welcome turn of events, the move by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to scrap the state’s law which set every single previous lead representative and appointee legislative heads of the state on life benefits.
By the arrangements of the Lagos State Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), a previous legislative head of the state is qualified for N30m benefits every year, a house in Lagos and Abuja, six spic and span vehicles like clockwork, clinical stipends in any piece of the world and different recompenses.
In any case, Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday, informed the state House of Assembly regarding his transition to revoke the law in order to reduce the expense of administration.
Reacting to the development, SERAP, which has been having a running legal battle with governors of the 36 states of the federation over pension laws for ex-governors, said it was cheered.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oludare, said, “This is a welcome development in line with our consistent advocacy on accountability in governance over the years. More particularly, this is in compliance with the judgment of Honourable Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court, Lagos in SERAP v. Attorney General of the Federation, mandating the Attorney General of the Federation to challenge the legality of state pension laws and recover monies paid unlawfully to former governors and their deputies.
“SERAP urges the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN,) to immediately fulfill his promise to enforce the judgment in suit number FHC/L/CS/1497/2017 to recover pensions already collected and challenge the legality of all life pension laws in several states across the country.”
