Eko Hot Blog reports that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged state governors who pay pensions to former governors and their deputies to emulate Abia State Governor Alex Otti and put an end to the practice, which he described as “outrageous” and “a daylight robbery.”
During a visit to Otti’s country home in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State on Friday, Obasanjo commended the governor for repealing the law that allowed former governors and their deputies to receive pensions and other benefits.
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“I watched the television, and I saw the repealing of Abia pensions, and I asked you what exactly is this, and you said to me that the pensions scheme for former governors here was too outrageous,” Obasanjo said. “It’s like trouble because it allowed them to have a house in Abuja and elsewhere, and it allowed them to cart away with whatever they can, yet the pensions of ordinary people from 2014 are unpaid.”
Obasanjo congratulated Otti, saying, “I congratulate you, and I say to you, I hope that your colleagues will follow in your footsteps.”
He urged Otti not to be discouraged by criticism and abuse, stating, “Don’t be discouraged; you will be abused, you will be called names, but if we have one-third of our states doing what should be done, this country will be a different country.”
Obasanjo also advised Otti to focus on infrastructural development, explaining that with infrastructure and good leadership, Abia State will attain greater heights. “I will urge you to pay adequate attention to infrastructure because if you give infrastructure and you give the type of leadership you are giving, the people of the state will have nothing to worry about,” he said.
In response, Otti assured Obasanjo that his administration was focused on infrastructural development, particularly in Aba, the commercial and industrial hub of the state. He also thanked the former president for supporting the decision to repeal the pension law for former governors and deputy governors.
“I want to also thank you for supporting our decision to repeal the pension law for former governors and former deputy governors,” Otti said. “I had said yesterday as I signed the bill into law that I strongly believe that leadership is stewardship and if you’ve come to serve the people, you can’t at the same time be fleecing the people.”
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The Abia State House of Assembly repealed the Abia State Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s Pensions Law number 4 of 2021, which provided for various benefits, including security, medical care, cooks, and stewards for former governors and their deputies.
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