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It is nauseating that the National Assembly has renewed moves to grant life pensions to its principal officers. According to the National Assembly’s Joint Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, the Senate President and his deputy as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy are proposed to receive pensions for life after their tenure in office. This is one of the 68 recommendations the committee presented in the respective chambers on Wednesday.
The recommendation states: “That the House does receive the report of the Special Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution on a Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide Pension for Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, and for Related Matters.”
This quest for life pension for the lawmakers did not start today. In June 2016, the 8th National Assembly led by Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara attempted to smuggle the provision into the constitution. Nigerians vehemently opposed the move. Lawmakers who supported the proposal then based their argument on their belief that if other arms of government enjoyed life pension, there was no reason for the legislative arm not to enjoy the benefit as well.
Already, over N7.8 billion is reportedly spent yearly on life pensions for former presidents and vice presidents. This expenditure is derived from Section 84(5) of the 1999 Constitution which says any person who has held office as president or vice president shall be entitled to pension for life at a rate equivalent to the annual salary of the incumbent president or vice president. This is provided that such a person was not removed from office by the process of impeachment or for breach of any provisions of the constitution.
Incidentally, not all lawmakers supported the life pension proposal for lawmakers in 2016. Those who spoke against it then hinged their argument on the fact that the principal officers already had so much benefit accruing to their offices. Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for instance, said the “principal officers drive fleet of cars and they have other entitlements. They should not earn extra money when they leave office.”
Currently, the lawmakers receive humongous amount of money as salaries and allowances. They also receive oversight and constituency project allowances. In addition, some of them who are ex-governors currently receive life pensions. In 2007, the Lagos State Government, under the then Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, became the first state to enact the life pensions law. About 21 other states followed the footsteps of Lagos afterwards. Some of the states include Abia, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers and Yobe States. Nevertheless, some states like Zamfara and Imo later abolished the pension law. In 2020, Lagos State also announced that it was abolishing it. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the decision to abolish it was due to the dwindling revenue of the state and to cut the cost of governance as well as signal selflessness in public service. If states are already abolishing this law, why is the National Assembly bent on enacting it?
The only reason we see here is selfishness. These are people elected to make laws that will bring progress and development to their constituencies and to Nigeria. But rather than do this, they resort to self-serving actions that will not augur well for Nigeria. Nigeria’s economy is bleeding from poor policies and profligacy. The Federal Government has contemplated removing fuel subsidy amid hunger and poverty ravaging the land. The rate of unemployment is on the high side. Inflation has also hit the rooftops.
The question is, how will granting life pension to the principal officers of the National Assembly solve these problems? The position these officers hold is a temporary one. If they are not re-elected after four years, they cease to hold such positions. So, what moral justification do they have to collect pension when some people who have put in over 35 years in service have not received theirs? How can they collect life pension when Nigeria is currently reeling from high cost of governance?
We are happy that civil society groups and well-meaning Nigerians are unanimous in condemning the move. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Projects (SERAP) had even obtained a court judgement ordering the Federal Government to recover pensions which the ex-governors now serving as ministers and National Assembly members had collected. We call on Nigerians to vehemently oppose the move. People should let their senators and House of Representatives members know that it cannot be business as usual. Should the lawmakers fail to heed this call, let the civil society organisations go to court to stop it.
