Sanwo-Olu to stop pension for former governors, deputies

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced plans to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which makes provision for the payment of pension and other entitlements to former elected governors and their deputies.

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This disclosure was made by the governor on Tuesday, November 9, 2020, while presenting the 2021 budget to the Lagos State House of Assembly at Alausa Ikeja.

While disclosing that this was expected to help reduce the cost of governance, Sanwo-Olu said the bill for that purpose would be sent to the State Assembly.

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Sanwo-Olu said, “Mr Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, in light of keeping the costs of governance low and to signal selflessness in public service, we will be sending a draft executive bill to the House imminently for the repeal of the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension and other entitlements to former Governors and their Deputies.’’

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The scrapping of the Pension Law 2007 will mean the stoppage of pension payment to the former governors of Lagos state, which includes, Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode and other individuals that had served as elected governors and deputy governors in the State.

He said, “It is our firm belief that with dwindling revenues and the appurtenant inflationary growth rates, that we need to come up with innovative ways of keeping the costs of governance at a minimum while engendering a spirit of selflessness in public service.’’

This plans by the Lagos State Governor is part of the 2021 budget which is tagged the “budget of rekindled hope”, with a proposed expenditure of N1,155,022,413,005.82

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