The Benue State House of Assembly on Monday repealed the life pension law for former governors and their deputies.
The life pension law, enacted to provide lifelong maintenance for former governors and their deputies, was originally passed in May 2023 by the 9th Assembly, just days before the end of their tenure.
The controversial law extended benefits to ex-elected governors and their deputies from 1999, including former governors George Akume, Gabriel Suswam, Samuel Ortom, and ex-deputy governors Steven Lawani and Engr. Benson Abounu, who are still alive.
During Monday’s plenary, the current 10th Assembly repealed the law, citing that it was not enacted in good faith.
Lawmakers unanimously agreed that the law was anti-people, with several members contributing to the discussion in support of its repeal.
Speaker of the House, Aondona Dajoh, ruled in favor of the unanimous resolution to repeal the “Bill for a law to repeal provision for the maintenance of former elected governors of the state and their deputies and for other matters connected thereto 2024.”
The former Speaker of the 9th Assembly, Engr. Titus Uba, had previously led the plenary which passed the bill into law after it was presented by the then Chairman of the House Committee on Business and Rules, Hon. Geoffrey Agbatse.
The bill had stipulated conditions for the law, including the payment of a monthly stipend as a basic pension for former governors and their deputies, equivalent to the current salaries of the serving governor, from the consolidated revenue of the state.
It also included a maintenance allowance of N25,000,000.00 for the former governor and N15,000,000.00 for the deputy governor every four years.
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