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Nigeria Parliament Passes Bill To Cater For Past Leaders
A BILL seeking life long remuneration for Senators, presiding officers of the House of Representatives and former presidents and their deputies passed through a second reading last week amidst controversy over the appropriateness of remunerating former military leaders.
Moreover, some Senators who sought the exclusion of former military rulers from the remuneration roll also wanted them barred from attending the National Council of State meetings on account of their participation in violating the mandates of elected past governments.
A few members who questioned the morality of the Senators including themselves on the pension roll were opposed by majority of the lawmakers and Senate President Adolphus Wabara who presided at the session.
Though the appropriateness of adding former military Heads of State to the pension roll took the centre stage at the session, a few Senators, notably Messers John Mbata (PDP, Rivers), Julius Ucha (PDP, Ebonyi), Ike Ekweremadu (PDP, Enugu), Ugochukwu Uba (PDP, Anambra) and Uche Chukwumerije (PDP, Abia) in between, raised concern over the propriety of adding the lawmakers to the life long remuneration roll.
The bill entitled: A bill for an act to provide remuneration for former presidents, Heads of Federal Legislative Houses and Chief Justices of the Federation, was sponsored by Senator Dalhatu Tafida, Senate leader.
The bill which passed through the last National Assembly but not assented to by President Olusegun Obasanjo was re-presented with an amendment adding Senators
to the roll.
Presenting the bill, Senator Tafida said he was moved to add former Senators to the bill because of the impoverished situation of some former Senators who did not return to the Senate in 2003.
I have seen some of my former colleagues who are now shadows of themselves, former Senators who come looking for N2,000, N5,000, etc., Senator Tafida said.
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