Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has applauded Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for moving to scrap the state’s law which placed former governors and deputies of the state on life pensions.

Sanwo-Olu has informed the Lagos State House of Assembly about his move to repeal the state’s Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007) to enable the state cut the cost of governance.

Development Diaries understands that a former governor of the state is entitled to N30 million as pension annually, a house in Lagos and Abuja, six brand new cars every three years, medical allowances in any part of the world among other allowance by the provisions of the law.

Reacting to the development, the Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole Oludare, commended the governor for making this move.

‘This is a welcome development in line with our consistent advocacy on accountability in governance over the years’, he said.

‘More particularly, this complies with the judgment of Honourable Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court, Lagos in SERAP v. Attorney General of the Federation, mandating the Attorney General of the Federation to challenge the legality of state pension laws and recover monies paid unlawfully to former governors and their deputies.

‘SERAP urges the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN,) to immediately fulfil his promise to enforce the judgment in suit number FHC/L/CS/1497/2017 to recover pensions already collected and challenge the legality of all life pension laws in several states across the country’.

Source: Punch

Photo source: Babajide Sanwo-Olu