Following his failed senatorial ambition, Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State proposed a life pension bill for himself, his predecessors and their deputies who had ruled the state from 1999. The pension is still pending before the state’s House of Assembly for consideration.
Former governors George Akume, Gabriel Suswam and Ortom, will enjoy the provision of the bill [if passed into law] including their deputies — the late Ogiri Ajene; Steven Lawani and Benson Abounu.
The governor who lost his senatorial bid to his former aide, Titus Zam, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), proposed among other things: a monthly ‘stipend’ equivalent to the ‘salary’ of a sitting/incumbent governor, a permanent residential accommodation, provision of four car every four years to the ex-governors and their deputies. The cars “shall” be serviced and maintained at the expense of the state.
Incessant Attacks in Benue Communities Displace 18,000 This Month
For clarity, the bill titled: A Bill for a Law to Make Provisions for the Maintenance of Former Governors of the State and their Deputies and for Other Matters Connected Thereto, has many components.
- “Section 2(a)(i) makes provision for the payment to the former governors of a monthly ‘stipend’ equivalent to the ‘the salary’ of a sitting/incumbent governor.
- “Section 2(a)(ii) makes provision for the payment to all former deputy governors of a monthly ‘stipend’, equivalent to the ‘the salary’ of a sitting/incumbent deputy governor.
- “Section 2(b) provides for the building of a permanent residential accommodation in any town ‘of their choice’ by the State in Nigeria.
- “Sections 2(c) and (h) provide for the provisions of 4 new cars every 4 years for the former governors and 2 new cars every 4 years for the former deputy governors whose cars shall be serviced and maintained at the expense of the State.
- “Section 2(d) and (e) provide for 6 personal staff for the former governors and 3 for the former deputy governors to be paid for by the State.
- “Section 2(f) provides for 24 hours security surveillance and guard for all former governors and their deputies at their direction.
- “Section 2(g) provides for free medical treatment for them, their spouses and at least 4 children under the age of 18.
- “Section 3 provides that all the above expenses can be monetised or cashed out!
- “Section 4 entitled former governors to 2 vacations abroad annually and the former deputy governor to 1 vacation abroad.”
DENIED ENTITLEMENTS
According to Benue State Nigeria Labour Congress Chairman, Terungwa Igbe, workers and pensioners in the state are being denied their salaries.
“At the local government level, teachers are owed, 11 months; workers were being owed 10 months arrears of salary. At the state level, workers are owed eight months and pensioners are owed 38 months respectively,” he said.
Last year some aggrieved pensioners staged a protest against the Ortom-led government over the non-payment of their entitlements in the past six years and two months. Yet the governor, on the occasion of Workers’ Day, extolled the workers for their perseverance and support.
“As we celebrate this year’s workers’ day, I sincerely express my solidarity and appreciation for the hardworking men and women of the Benue State civil servants who keep our economy running and our society functioning smoothly.
“The past years have been challenging for all of us and I know that many of you have faced difficult circumstances and uncertainties in your workplaces like payment of salaries and other allowances. The situation has been worsened by insecurity in the state. Yet, you have had to adapt to new working conditions and navigate a rapidly changing economic landscape.
“But through it all, you have persevered and shown incredible resilience. Your dedication and commitment to your jobs and our communities are an inspiration to us all,” Ortom said in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur.
‘A PENSION SCAM’ — ORTOM’S BILL
Terhemen Oscar Aorabee-Gagajav, a legal practitioner in the state described the bill a “pension scam” that will only “cripple” the state’s economy.
Not only a bill that will cripple the economy, the lawyer says, but it will also impoverish workers and other people of the state.
Aorabee-Gagajav observes that the expenses of the bill are to be charged on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state (meaning that they are on First Line Charge) and are to take priority against other expenses like salaries, pensions and gratuity of the citizen.
He feared that the entitlements except the vacation, can be converted into cash and paid out.
Aorabee-Gagajav explained: “It is important to note that if allowed to be passed, the state will be owing Governors Akume and Suswan with their Deputies all the entitlements provided for in the BILL/LAW.
“Again, the monthly stipends to be paid to the beneficiaries, apart from being for life and backdated, calculated and monetized, are capable of totally crippling the State Treasury and Economy.
“Remember that the law does not say that the stipend should be equivalent to the “BASIC SALARY” of a sitting governor but the “SALARY,” and my research shows that the monthly basic salary of a sitting governor is N2,223,794 while the monthly salary of a sitting governor, comprising allowances, etc., is N11,540,896.
“This means that Sen. George Akume alone will be entitled to N138,490,752 per annum from the time he left office till his death. Same for Senator Suswam and Gov. Ortom and the governors after them.
“Multiply N138,490,752 x 3 former governors in a year alone, you are going to be spending N657,276,456 on Ortom, Akume and Suswam alone in 2024 as monthly stipends. (We have not considered the backlog for Akume and Suswam.
“The three deputies will take home N440,631,348 per annum as monthly stipends. Add N657,276,456 to N440,631,348 for the governors and their deputies and you have N1, 097,907, 804. [These are the stipends for the 3 sets of governors and their deputies for one year alone]
“The governors and their deputies are entitled to 6 vehicles every four years. Let us assume that each vehicle costs N70, 000,000.00 (I am assuming this based on my findings on Jiji that a Toyota Landcruiser Prado Jeep, 2022 model costs about that much). If you multiply that sum for 6 cars, you will have N420,000,000.00 spent on them every 4 years. We will resist the urge to go on calculating the cost of service of these beasts for every year. Mind you that the Law does not place a ceiling on the cost of the cars.
“Note also, the Bill does not stipulate that the old four-year-old cars should be returned to the State Pool in exchange for the new cars.
“Next is the provision for the building of residential accommodations of no prescribed limit in value in any Town of their choice in Nigeria. I assume that nobody would want to have a house built for that purpose in Makurdi, Gbajimba, Anyiin or Wannune. They would rather prefer to have a house in Banana Island or Asokoro in Abuja where the cost of buying plain land alone will cost hundreds of millions and building could cost a billion or more.
“What about the medical expenses for them, their spouses and AT LEAST 4 children irrespective of whether the children are biological or not. Once a child reaches the age of 18, he or she could easily be replaced by another “child”. Again the medical expenses are not limited in value or within Nigeria.
“Do we still need to talk about vacations ABROAD? What about the salaries of the 6 and 3 personal staff for life for governors and their deputies?
“Incidentally, the law, which is a state law that does not override federal laws, provides that a beneficiary shall not take any other entitlement from the State or the Federation, but is silent on refund or penalty for breach of section 5 of the Law.
“Now you see why this pension scam should not be allowed to be signed into law because it will cripple our economy once implemented.”
