BY Chinedu Asadu
The Kano state house of assembly has approved life pension for its speaker and deputy speaker.
The assembly passed the pensions rights of speaker and deputy bill during plenary on Tuesday.
The bill, if passed into law, will also provide for foreign medical trips and new vehicles every four years for the duo.
The bill states the the life pension is “provided that either the speaker or the deputy do not hold any paid elective or selective appointment.”
According to the bill, “any person duly elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall, on completion of his term be entitled to a grant of pension for life by the state, provided that such person was not removed from office through impeachment by members of the House of Assembly.
“There shall be paid pension to persons who held office as Speaker and Deputy Speaker equal to the emoluments of a serving Speaker and deputy speaker, provided that either the Speaker or the Deputy do not hold any paid elective or selective appointment.’’
The bill, however, exempts any of the principal officers impeached from the benefits.
It said in cases where the speaker or deputy vacates office before the expiration of the term of his office, which is not as a result of impeachment, “he shall be paid pension pro-rata the number of years he spent in relation to his tenure of office.”
“Where the Speaker or Deputy Speaker dies in office before the expiration of the term of his tenure, he shall be paid pension pro-rata the number of years he spent in relation to his tenure of office,” it added.
“There shall be provided for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker a brand new vehicle to be bought by the State Government every four years.
“There shall be provided for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker medical expenses either home or abroad depending on the nature of the illness.”
The development comes about about a year after pensioners under the aegis of Kano State Pensioners Forum (KSPF) protested the state government’s “delay in settling their outstanding gratuities, pension arrears and death benefits.
It also comes one week after Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa state, rejected a similar bill passed by the state assembly.
The life pension was widely rejected by many Nigerians who said it was plot by the lawmakers to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.
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