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Benue state has has been reported to be the new member of the Union of 23 states, where laws have been enacted for the payment of pension and other benefits for former Governors and deputy Governors.
The Benue state law makes provision for a monthly pension for former elected governors and their deputies equivalent to the basic salaries of a serving governor and a serving deputy governor along with a maintenance allowance of N25 million for former governors, N1.5 million for former deputies as well as two brand new SUV cars for each of the former governors and one each for each of the former deputy governors. The vehicles are to be replaced every four years. The bill also makes provision for six and three personal staff for each of the former governors and deputies respectively. The state is also to take care of their medical expenses annually. The only executive proposal in the bill that was dropped by the Legislators before passing the bill was the provision of residential accommodation in any town of choice of each of the former governors and deputies. These provisions in the Benue state law is almost what obtains in the other states laws.
The sad situation is that many retired public servants in Benue and several states of the federation are languishing in abject poverty and destitution with others dying as a result of the non payment of their pension and gratuities by by former Governor Ortom and his fellow union members, despite the Constitutional guarantee of their pension. In some states pensions are being owned for upward of 35 months. The backlog of gratuities is almost a forgotten case, while death benefits payable to next-of-kin of deceased public servants is not being mentioned.
Nothing so far exposes the way and manner State Governors choose and pick which provisions of the Constitution they should obey or disobey; showcase their lack of ethics and morality in governance as the pension rights of states public servants vis-à-vis pension and other benefits for former Governors and Deputy Governors.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees the right of pension for employees of state governments. Section 210(1) of the Constitution provides that subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the right of a person in the public service of the State to receive pension or gratuity shall be regulated by law. Subsection (2) provides that any benefits to which a person is entitled in accordance with or under such law as is referred to in subsection(1) of this section shall not be withheld or altered to his disadvantage except to such extent as is permissible under any law including the Code of Conduct.
Section 14(1)of the Constitution provides that “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice. Subsection (2)(b) provides that “security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Section 17(3)(f) of the Constitution provides that “children; young persons and the aged are protected against any exploitation whatsoever, and against moral and material neglect”.
The irony of the whole situation is that some of the immediate past governors and deputies who failed to pay pension or owning pension before they left offices are looking forward to benefit from the pension laws for Governors and their deputies, either put in place by them or their predecessors. In their self righteous defense on the legality of pension laws for former Governors and former Deputy Governors, they are quick to point out that the Constitution guarantees their right to pension.
Section 124, Sub-Section 5 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution as amended, states that “Provisions may be made by law of the House of Assembly for the grant of a pension or gratuity to or in respect of a person who had held office as Governor or Deputy Governor and was not removed from office as a result of impeachment; and any pension granted by virtue of any provision made in pursuance of this sub-section shall be made in a charge upon the consolidated revenue of the state.”
On 26th November, 2019, His Lordship Honourable Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court, Lagos ruling on an application for an order of mandamus in suit number FHC/L/CS/1497/2017 brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had ordered the Federal Government to recover life pensions collected by former governors serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly. Justice Oguntoyinbo also directed the then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws permitting former governors and other ex-public officials to collect such pensions.
In a judgement dated December 9, 2019 in Suit NO: NICN/JOS/26/2016 between Alhaji Garba Umar and Taraba State Government, His Lordship Honourable Justice K.I. Amadi of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in JOS Division, declared as null and void, payment of pension and gratuity to former governors and deputy governors. The court gave the judgement while ruling in a suit brought against the Taraba State Government by Alhaji Garba Umar, who was once the acting governor of Taraba State. He had dragged the state government to the court, claiming that he was entitled to gratuity as a former governor of the state, 300 per cent of his salary as acting governor as medical allowance and other benefits as provided in Taraba State Governor and Deputy Governor’s Pension Law 2015.
In its ruling, the court held that it appeared that there was a “contradiction by the provision of section 124(5) of the 1999 Constitution, which enabled the House of Assembly of a state to provide for pension or gratuity to governors and deputy governors which items are also placed under the exclusive legislative list under Part 1, of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.”
The judge went further to say that “The question then is how to reconcile these two provision of the constitution. The answer is by adopting a purposeful approach by which the court is required to look at the constitution as a whole and construe its provisions in such a way as to give effect to general and specific purposes for which it was enacted; that is good governance and the welfare of all Nigerian based on the principles of equality and justice.”
The court went further to hold that the States Houses of Assembly in Nigeria lacked the power to fix any amount in renumeration to its past governors and deputy governors as “pension or gratuity unless the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission first of all determined an amount as pension and gratuity of past governors and deputy governors in which case such amount, so fixed, shall not exceed the amount as have been determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.”
The court said since the Commission had not fixed any amount as pension and gratuity to past governors and deputy governors in Nigeria, that any law made by any State House of Assembly granting pension and gratuity to its past governors and deputy governors was therefore null and void. The court, therefore ruled that Taraba State Governor and deputy governors’ pension law, 2015 is null and void.
The judgements of the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court are yet to be implemented or appealed.
NATIONAL ETHIC
Ethics is a critical component of public administration. In the public sector, ethics addresses the fundamental premise of a public administrator’s duty as a “steward” to the public. In other words, it is the moral justification and consideration for decisions and actions made during the completion of daily duties when working to provide the general services of government.
Section 23 of the Constitution as amended, provides that “The National ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of Labour, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance, Self-reliance and Patriotism.
Discipline is the value attached to obeying of rules and Code of Conduct of behaviour; this value also includes the value of rewarding those who obey rules and punishing those who do not. Integrity, is the value of being honest and having strong moral principles. While social justice is the value that recognises that all people deserve access to wealth, opportunities, and privileges.
Section 24 provides that it shall be the duty of every citizen to (a) abide by this Constitution, respect it ideals and its institutions, the National flag, the National anthem, theNational pledge, and the legitimate authorities; (b) help to enhance the power, prestige, and good name of Nigeria, defend Nigeria and render such national service as may be required; (c) respect the dignity of other citizens and the right and legitimate interest of others and live in unity and harmony and in the spirit of common brotherhood.
With regards to the states pension debacle, where is integrity on the part of the effected former states Governors, can they be said to have enacted discipline , or administered their states in line with the principles of social justices? On the part of retirees and next-of-kin of deceased public servants who are languishing in abject poverty and destitution because of non payment of pension and death benefits, where is dignity of labour?
Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong).
Some members of the Nigerian predatory ruling class, do not see a place for morality in governance. Their position on the issue of morality in governance was made clear to the public by no less a person than Rotimi Amaechi, former Two term Governor of Rivers State, former Minister of Transport, and former Chairman Nigeria (Union of Governors) Governors Forum.
Amaechi was quoted in the Daily post of November 4, 2014 to have advised Nigerians seeking to find goodness or morality in politics and governance to look the way of the Church. It was reported that he said this, when he appeared on AIT then flagship programe Focus Nigeria. Amaechi who was Governor of Rivers State at the time, made the statement while expressing his reservations with then President Goodluck Jonathan at the height of campaigns towards the 2015 elections. He was quoted to have said, “I respect the President as a person. He is a gentleman, he is a good man but there is no morality in governance. There is no goodness in governance. If you want to be moral or want to be a good man, go to church.”
The above reflect the character of some of the immediate past Governors and their predecessors, who failed in eight years to enact laws to take care of pension of employees of States they governed or failed to comply with laws enacted on pension, by not paying pension and death benefits to retirees or deceased relatives. These same Governors, were able to within days, through subversive generosities extended to members of their ever “cooperative” State Houses of Assemblies to enact laws, that protect for themselves,“pension” and other benefits, which include houses, bullet proof vehicles, domestic and security helps and provisions for medical tourism.
It is only public officials who have no regards for the provisions of the Constitution they swore to uphold; lacking in ethics and morality, who will fail to pay retired public servants their pension for upward of 6 to 30 months; fail to pay death benefits to next-of-kin’s of deceased public servants but will hurriedly within a matter of days put in place laws to protect for themselves “pension” and other benefits.
Some of these former Governors have turned Abuja the seat of the Federal Government, to their safe haven. They can be seen in the hallow chamber of the Senate of the National Assembly; some superintended over Federal Ministries, as Ministers. Others are already positioning themselves for Ministerial appointments, Ambassadorial appointments or chairmen of “lucrative” Federal Commissions and Agencies.
The question states public servants, serving and retired are asking is, faced with the behaviour of some of these Governors, past and present, where is the place of authority, law, morality and justice in governance in Nigeria?
Authority provokes deep political and ideological disagreements. some regard it as essential to the maintenance of an ordered, stable, and healthy society. Others warn that authority tends to be enemy of liberty and to undermine reason and moral responsibility; authority tends to lead to authoritarianism. whereas law is a distinctive form of social control, morality addresses normative or ethical questions. Justice is about giving each person what he or she is due. The issue of justice lies at the heart of questions about legitimacy and orderly existence, determined whether citizens are willing to accept the law as binding. In all these, who will come to the help of state pensioners, to redeem them from abject poverty and destitution and death.
