Zamfara Assembly Repeals Pension Law For Ex-Governors

The Zamfara State House of Assembly on Tuesday repealed a law authorizing pension and other allowances for former governors and their deputies.

Spokesperson of the assembly, Mustapha Jafaru, in a statement said the abolition also affects ex-speakers of the house of assembly and their deputies.

The development comes days after former Governor Abdulaziz Yari, in a leaked letter to the state government, requested his N10 million monthly upkeep, which he said had not been paid for some months.

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Presenting a bill before on Tuesday, house leader, Faruk Dosara, urged his colleagues to consider a complete repeal of the law “which provides the jamboree payment for the former political leaders of the state at the detriment of the retired civil servants who have not been paid their entitlements over the years.”

According to the lawmaker, these categories of past leaders “are collecting over N700 million annually” which he said the present economy cannot accommodate.

Seconding the motion, Tukur Birnin-Tudu said the abolition of the law was necessary.

After deliberations, Speaker Nasiru Magarya ordered the clerk of the House to give the bill first and second reading.

Later, the house went for a committee of the whole after which the bill went for a third reading.

The bill will now be sent to the governor for his assent, the spokesman said.

“With this development, all past political leaders in Zamfara will longer enjoy any entitlements unless those prescribed by the National Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission,” Jafaru quoted the speaker as saying in the statement.

NAN