By Bello Gideon (SIWES student, AAPOLY)
Femi Falana, Chairman of the Partnership on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, has urged former governors, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, to cease collecting retirement funds as ex-governors.
Falana, a human rights lawyer, encouraged them to follow the lead of former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel and former Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, who have already done so.
He pointed out that the Houses of Assembly in Kwara, Imo, and Zamfara had abolished the Governors Pension Scheme and called on other Houses of Assembly to do the same without delay.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana also referenced a judgment delivered by Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo (retd.) on November 26, 2019, which declared the payment of pensions to former governors illegal and unconstitutional.
This judgment was a result of a lawsuit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project against the Attorney-General of the Federation, challenging the constitutionality of pension payments to former governors in Nigeria.
Justice Oguntoyinbo declared the pension payments illegal and unconstitutional in the lawsuit, ordering the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice to recover life pensions collected by former governors serving as senators and ministers.
Falana commended Daniel and Dankwambo for complying with these judgments and requesting their respective states to stop paying them the pension.
He called on Senator Akpabio and other former governors in the executive and legislative branches to follow the example set by Senators Daniel and Dankwambo by rejecting the illegal pension payments immediately, especially in light of the fact that some former governors are currently receiving double salaries.
