Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has bowed to public pressure and withdrawn his assent on the controversial bill passed by state House of Assembly canvassing life pension for lawmakers.
Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the state Commissioner for Information, who disclosed this in Yenagoa, the capital, quoted Governor Dickson as having conveyed his decision to decline assent, via a letter, to the Speaker of the Assembly, Kombowei Benson, on Monday.
The commissioner revealed that his boss had intimated the lawmakers with the reason behind his decision to decline assent after due consultations with them at his country home of Toru-Orua.
Iworiso-Markson quoted the governor as saying that the bill was inconsistent with Section 124 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
In his letter to the Speaker, Dickson argued that the State Assembly lacked the powers to expand the categories of public servants who should be entitled to pension.
Besides, he noted that the state was be-devilled with a surfeit of challenges emanating from low inflow from internally generated revenue (IGR), coupled with unstable earnings from the oil economy. And that, if allowed to become law, Bayelsa would be the only state in the federation to enact legislation.
The governor said that he was guided in the decision by the principle that government should not be for a select class of the privileged in the society, and would not discard it over seven years into his administration.
He said the lawmakers, and indeed the Nigerian populace, would attest to the fact that all decisions of his administration were guided by the strong urge to protect the public interest and promote the general good.
Dickson’s exact words: “The provisions of this Bill granting pension to members of Bayelsa State House of Assembly and the extension of same to former members of the Assembly and Bayelsa indigenes who served in the Old Rivers State House of Assembly, is inconsistent with Section 124 of the Constitution òf the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“I am not convinced about the legality of this Bill which seeks to expand the categories of persons entitled to pension.
“While I agree that the Assembly can adjust the quantum of pension payable to persons entitled to pension, I am not convinced that the House has powers to add to the categories of pensionable public officers.
“Evidently, there is no record of any other state in this country that has expanded the categories of pensionable public officers to include lawmakers.
“I do not agree that Bayelsa which is coping with all the myriads of issues and challenges, with our low Internally Generated Revenue base and the unpredictable oil economy, should be the first to initiate this.
“Honourable members of this Assembly, Bayelsans and other Nigerians following our progress as a government would clearly attest to the fact that my entire public service, actions and decisions are marked by what is in the public interest, particularly the interest of the vulnerable, ordinary people.
“It is in the service of this category of people that in the last seven years and counting, I have in an unprecedented manner which only history will record and reward, extended the frontiers of the benefits of purposeful democratic governance.
“It is my philosophy that government should not be for a select few. In the last seven years, my actions and decisions which have sometimes elicited opposition from the elite who have been feeding fat on the resources of our State, have been marked by this singular disposition of mine.
“And I do not intend at this point to abandon that. Rather I intend to do more and to consolidate on the policies and actions which have been taken to protect the vulnerable.
“Therefore, I am unable to assent to this bill which in my view aims to expand and consolidate the class interest of a privileged few.”
