Date: 2021-01-27

The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Tuesday, signed into law a bill cancelling payment of hefty pension to former governors of the state and their deputies.

Mr AbdulRazaq had in November announced his plans to repeal the law, saying the state can no longer afford the payment of pension to the former leaders.

He then forwarded an executive bill to the state House of Assembly, which recently passed it.

The beneficiaries of the voided pension were former governors Bukola Saraki Abdulfatah Ahmed and their deputies, who served two terms each between 2003 and 2019.

The pension law was passed in 2011 under the administration of Mr Saraki.

Despite being immediately elected into the Senate after leaving office in 2011 and becoming Senate President in 2015, Mr Saraki continued to take the pension until last year when he announced he had given it up.

Mr AbdulRazaq signed the Act repealing the pension law during a brief budget signing ceremony attended by the Speaker, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, and some members of the state House of Assembly.

Mr Danladi-Salihu told the governor that members of the public were unanimous in demanding the repeal of the law during the public hearing.

Also, at the ceremony, the governor assented to the 2021 Appropriation Bill, saying his administration will build on the ongoing infrastructural development and increase investments in social protection and youth empowerment programmes.

While signing the N137.6bn appropriation bill into law, Mr AbdulRazaq commended the lawmakers for their hard work.

"This budget will build on the achievements of the previous years in the areas of education, health, and roads infrastructure. We are also focusing on youth empowerment, job creation, and social investments which are very critical at this point of our national life," he said.

Mr AbdulRazaq said social protection is most important at this time to prevent more people from falling into abject poverty.

He commended the conditional cash transfer (CCT) initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari which is already being replicated in Kwara State.

"I was pleasantly surprised that this initiative of Mr. President is being felt in the remotest parts of the country. When I visited the communities where some women beneficiaries of the (CCT) used same to start the construction of schools, I was very happy and we thank Mr President for that.

"I have since refunded the money of those women and I have also approved the construction (completion) of the schools. So, we are going to continue to invest in social protection," he said.