Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), the Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, has issued an appeal to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and other former governors to discontinue the practice of collecting pensions as ex-governors.
As a human rights lawyer, Falana encouraged former governors to follow the example set by Gbenga Daniel, the former governor of Ogun State, and Ibrahim Dankwambo, the former governor of Gombe State. Highlighting the actions of the Houses of Assembly in Kwara, Imo, and Zamfara states, which have abolished the Governors Pension Scheme, Falana urged other state assemblies to follow suit promptly.
In a statement released on Sunday, Falana also referenced a significant legal judgment delivered on November 26, 2019, by Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo (retd.), which deemed the payment of pensions to former governors as illegal and unconstitutional.
This judgment resulted from a lawsuit filed by an advocacy group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, challenging the constitutional validity of pension payments to former governors in Nigeria. In the suit marked as FHC/L/CS/1497/2017, Justice Oguntoyinbo declared the pension payments illegal and unconstitutional. Consequently, she ordered the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice to recover the life pensions received by former governors serving as senators and ministers.
Falana emphasized that, in compliance with both judgments, Daniel and Dankwambo had requested the governors of Ogun and Gombe States, respectively, to cease the payment of these controversial pensions.
Falana stated, "This is a commendable step, particularly when more than 20 former governors in both the executive and legislative branches of government are receiving dual salaries. In light of these developments, we call upon Senator Akpabio and other former governors in both the executive and legislative branches to follow the example set by Senators Daniel and Dankwambo by immediately rejecting the receipt of these unlawful pensions.
