Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday disclosed his intention to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension and other entitlements to former governors and their deputies in the state.
He made this known while presenting the 2021 budget to the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Sanwo-Olu said the bill would be sent to the Assembly for legislative approval.
According to the governor, the abolition of pension for former governors and deputies will reduce the cost of governance.
“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,” he said.
The Lagos House of Assembly had in 2007 passed a pension bill for erstwhile governors and their deputies.
According to the law, the governor is entitled to N30 million pension annually, a house in Lagos and Abuja, six brand new cars every three years, medical allowances in any part of the world and other allowances.
It would be recalled that a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had in December 2019 stopped such payment across all the states in the country.
The decision of the Federal High Court in Lagos directing the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to review pension laws of various states was sequel to a suit filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The House of Assembly in Zamfara had repealed the state’s pension law following the court’s ruling.
