Dickson Declines Assent To Life Pension Bill For Lawmakers

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson has rejected a bill by the state house of assembly proposing a life pension for lawmakers.

Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the state’s Commissioner for Information said the governor conveyed the message to the Speaker of the House, Kombowei Benson on Monday.

He explained that the governor hosted the state’s assembly members in his country home of Toru-Orua and explained his reason for declining assent to bill to them.

Dickson said assenting to the bill will be a contravention of Section 124 of the 1999 Constitution.

He said State Assembly lacked the powers to have an expansion of the categories of public servants who should be entitled to pension. He added that if he assents to such bill, Bayelsa State will be the only state in Nigeria to have made the move which does not denote the actual economic viability of the state as they’ve had to battle low revenue and unstable oil income.

Explaining his decision further, he said he won’t be party to the creation of gaps in the societal class of people as his government has worked hard and is guided by the principle of working for the populace’s benefits.

“The provisions of this Bill granting pension to members of Bayelsa State House òf 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 Billl which seeks to expand the categories of persons entitled to pension,” he wrote to the Speaker.

“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.”

FROM  aledeh.com