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The Zamfara State House of Assembly has repealed the law approving jumbo pensions for former governors, their deputy governors, House speakers and deputy speakers in the state.
The bill had been passed and signed into law under the administration of the immediate past governor, Abdulaziz Yari, who recently expressed his frustration with the current state governor for stopping the payment of his monthly pension.
The abolishment of the law came barely 48 hours after a letter written by the former governor, Yari,to Zamfara State Government demanding for the payment of his upkeep allowances running into millions of naira leaked to the public.
The letter generated heated debates within and outside the state.
According to the letter, the monthly upkeep allowances for an ex-governor in the state is N10 million as backed by law amended and assented to on March 23,2019.
But presenting the bill before the House on Tuesday, House Leader, Hon. Faruk Musa Dosara, urged his colleagues to as a matter of urgency, consider the repeal of the law which provided jumbo pay for former political leaders in the state to the detriment of retired civil servants who have not been paid their entitlements over the years.
Dosara said the former leaders were collecting over N700 million annually, which he said the present economy of the state could not accommodate.
Seconding the motion, Hon. Tukur Jekada Birnin Tudu from Bakura local government said the abolition of the law was necessary, arguing that “it is detrimental to the socio-economic wellbeing of our people.”
After serious deliberations and contributions by House members, the Speaker, Hon Nasiru Mu’azu Magarya, ordered the clerk of the House to give the bill first and second reading.
The Assembly then went into a committee meeting, after which the bill went for a third reading, and the house declared that the bill has now been passed into law and would be sent to the governor for assent.