From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti has said
his administration would use money saved from the payment of the pension of former Governors and Deputy Governors to pay pensioners in the state.
Otti made this known while assenting to the Abia State of Nigeria Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Repeal Law of 2024 recently passed by the Abia State House of Assembly.
He said it was his belief from the onset that government was not going to continue with the practice of paying pension to former Governors and Deputy Governors in the State as the money would have been better used in offsetting the backlog of pension owed Abia retired workers since 2014.
“I want to make a few things clear, one, that even before we came onboard a lot of people who had followed our views understand that we were not going to continue with the practice of paying pensions and allowances to this set of former government officials. A lot of people had confronted me to remind me that very soon I will also be a former Governor and i agree completely.”
The Governor who explained the Bill was an Executive one, thanked the State House of Assembly for expeditiously passing the Bill and assured the House of the maximum support of his administration.
Pointing out that governance is not about self interest, the Governor said he believes that repealing the pensions for Governors and Deputy Governors was the right step to take as it is all about good governance and stewardship.
“So it’s all about good governance, it’s all about stewardship to our people and i strongly believe that any leader who believes that leadership is a business has lost his way. As far as I am concerned, leadership is stewardship and if you now want to take up all the resources that belong to the people you are leading, I’m not sure that is morally correct.
“Government is not about self interest and it’s actually self interest that destroys government and if you accuse me of belonging to a class I would readily admit but add that i have happily committed class suicide, because I would had benefitted if this law had continued.
“But we all know that it’s not the best for the country, for this state, for the workers who were hitherto owed for months. for pensioners who we are still struggling to defray several months and years of arrears from 2014, it’s more appropriate for us to use the funds that would have been used to pay former elected political office holders, to pay the workers.”
Presenting the bill for his assent earlier, the Speaker, Abia House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emereuwa, represented by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Austin Meregini said the Bill repeals law no 4 of 2001 which empowers the State government to be paying pension to Governors and Deputy Governors in the State.