Ortom’s life pension bill for ex-governors outrageous, ridiculous, economy-crippling – Lawyer – Newstrends
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Ortom’s life pension bill for ex-governors outrageous, ridiculous, economy-crippling – Lawyer

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Governor Samuel Ortom

Ortom’s life pension bill for ex-governors outrageous, ridiculous, economy-crippling – Lawyer

Nigerian lawyer from Benue State, Barr. Terhemen Oscar Aorabee-Gagajav has raised the alarm over a life pension bill proposed by Governor Samuel Ortom’s government in Benue State for former governors and deputy governors.

Aorabee-Gagajav, who described the proposed life pension bill as outrageous, ridiculous and economy-crippling, asked that the bill must not be passed into law.

He said if passed and implemented, it will not only cripple the economy of the state but will impoverish workers and other people of the state.

Further describing the bill as a pension scam, Aorabee-Gagajav said the bill titled ‘A Bill for a Law to make Provisions for the Maintenance of Former Governors of the State and their Deputies and for Other Matters Connected Thereto’, has been presented to the Benue State House of Assembly by the outgoing governor.

According to Aorabee-Gagajav, Section 1 of the bill established the title of the Bill and intended for it to have a retroactive effect, adding that it is expected to take effect from 1999 so that it will cover former governors and their deputies including Senator George Akume and the late Ogiri Ajene; Senator Gabriel Suswam and Steven Lawani; Dr. Samuel Ortom and Engr. Benson Abounu.

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He noted that further details of the bill showed that “Section 2(a)(i) makes provision for the payment to the former governors of a monthly ‘stipend’ equivalent to the ‘the salary’ of a sitting/incumbent governor.

“Section 2(a)(ii) makes provision for the payment to all former deputy governors of a monthly ‘stipend’, equivalent to the ‘the salary’ of a sitting/incumbent deputy governor.

“Section 2(b) provides for the building of a permanent residential accommodation in any town ‘of their choice’ by the State in Nigeria.

“Sections 2(c) and (h) provide for the provisions of 4 new cars every 4 years for the former governors and 2 new cars every 4 years for the former deputy governors whose cars shall be serviced and maintained at the expense of the State.

“Section 2(d) and (e) provide for 6 personal staff for the former governors and 3 for the former deputy governors to be paid for by the State.

“Section 2(f) provides for 24 hours security surveillance and guard for all former governors and their deputies at their direction.

“Section 2(g) provides for free medical treatment for them, their spouses and at least 4 children under the age of 18.

“Section 3 provides that all the above expenses can be monetized or cashed out!

“Section 4 entitled former governors to 2 vacations abroad annually and the former deputy governor to 1 vacation abroad.”

He pointed out that all the entitlements are for life and that the expenses are to be charged on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state (meaning that they are on First Line Charge) and are to take priority against other expenses like salaries, pensions and gratuity of the citizen. He added that all the entitlements except the vacation can be converted into cash and paid out.

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A critical review of the bill, according to Aorabee-Gagajav, shows that “Section 1 makes this Bill, when passed into Law, to have retroactive effect. This means that it will be backdated to cover all governors and their deputies democratically elected since 1999.

“It is important to note that if allowed to be passed, the state will be owing Governors Akume and Suswan with their Deputies all the entitlements provided for in the BILL/LAW.

“Again, the monthly stipends to be paid to the beneficiaries, apart from being for life and backdated, calculated and monetized, are capable of totally crippling the State Treasury and Economy.

“Remember that the law does not say that the stipend should be equivalent to the “BASIC SALARY” of a sitting governor but the “SALARY,” and my research shows that the monthly basic salary of a sitting governor is N2,223,794 while the monthly salary of a sitting governor, comprising allowances, etc., is N11,540,896.

“This means that Sen. George Akume alone will be entitled to N138,490,752 per annum from the time he left office till his death. Same for Senator Suswam and Gov. Ortom and the governors after them.

“Multiply N138,490,752 x 3 former governors in a year alone, you are going to be spending N657,276,456 on Ortom, Akume and Suswam alone in 2024 as monthly stipends. (We have not considered the backlog for Akume and Suswam.

“The three deputies will take home N440,631,348 per annum as monthly stipends. Add N657,276,456 to N440,631,348 for the governors and their deputies and you have N1, 097,907, 804. [These are the stipends for the 3 sets of governors and their deputies for one year alone]

“The governors and their deputies are entitled to 6 vehicles every four years. Let us assume that each vehicle costs N70, 000,000.00 (I am assuming this based on my findings on Jiji that a Toyota Landcruiser Prado Jeep, 2022 model costs about that much). If you multiply that sum for 6 cars, you will have N420,000,000.00 spent on them every 4 years. We will resist the urge to go on calculating the cost of service of these beasts for every year. Mind you that the Law does not place a ceiling on the cost of the cars.

“Note also, the Bill does not stipulate that the old four-year-old cars should be returned to the State Pool in exchange for the new cars.

“Next is the provision for the building of residential accommodations of no prescribed limit in value in any Town of their choice in Nigeria. I assume that nobody would want to have a house built for that purpose in Makurdi, Gbajimba, Anyiin or Wannune. They would rather prefer to have a house in Banana Island or Asokoro in Abuja where the cost of buying plain land alone will cost hundreds of millions and building could cost a billion or more.

“What about the medical expenses for them, their spouses and AT LEAST 4 children irrespective of whether the children are biological or not. Once a child reaches the age of 18, he or she could easily be replaced by another “child”. Again the medical expenses are not limited in value or within Nigeria.

Ortom’s life pension bill for ex-governors outrageous, ridiculous, economy-crippling – Lawyer

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NCC extends NIN-SIM linkage deadline

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NCC extends NIN-SIM linkage deadline

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has extended the deadline for the the second phase of SIM-NIN linkage.

Recall that the process to disconnect SIMs not linked to NIN was initiated in stages, with the second phase slated for today, March 29.

The first phase was on February 28, 2024, after NCC directed telecom operators to disconnect millions of subscribers who didn’t link their SIMs to their NINs.

The third phase is slated to commence on April 15, 2024, as previously announced by NCC in December, 2023.

However, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) said subscriber have been having difficulty linking their SIMs with their NINs, hence it would be unfair to bar them.

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NATCOMS’ President, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, therefore, appealed to the NCC extend the deadline scheduled for the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to NIN beyond Friday, March 29, 2024.

Meanwhile, a senior official of NCC said the commission had changed the second phase deadline.

He disclosed that the change, which will now see the deadline extended by one week, was necessitated by the Easter public holiday.

The official, who spoke in confidence with Daily Trust, said the telcos had been directed not to bar any subscriber until after one week, from Friday, March 29.

He explained that, “The telecom operators will not bar any subscriber yet. We will only be talking about barring after a week from tomorrow. Yes, technically, we can say the deadline has been extended by a week.”

Another NCC top staff member who corroborated what the first official told our reporter added that NCC yielded to appeals by some CSOs and telecom right groups calling for deadline extension because of internet glitches experienced in the country two weeks ago

NCC extends NIN-SIM linkage deadline

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30,000 students benefit from Ogun Educash transfer

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Gov. Dapo Abiodun

30,000 students benefit from Ogun Educash transfer

Ogun State said has said 20,000 of its students in tertiary institutions have benefited from Educash transfer of N50,000 to cushion the economic crisis.

Also, it said 10,000 indigent pupils in primary and secondary schools in the state got N10,000 cash transfer.

Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, spoke after monitoring the cash transfer to primary and secondary schools at Ogun West Senatorial District.

Arigbabu noted more would benefit from the scheme.

He said everyone captured would be paid.

“I can tell you that for the tertiary institutions, we have done 20,000 as at today, and the total for tertiary institution beneficiaries is a little bit less than 50,000. Hopefully, by end of next week, we will reach half of that, which is about 25,000 beneficiaries.

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“I want to assure those who have not received theirs, for instance, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), a list of a little bit over 12,000 was sent to us. As we speak, we have paid just a little less than 6,000. The same thing at Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), where we have a little bit less than 8,000. We have tried to make sure we are targeting between 45 to 50 per cent,” he said.

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Binance Executive drags NSA, EFCC to court, demands public apology

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Binance Executive drags NSA, EFCC to court, demands public apology

Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has taken legal action against National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleging violations of his fundamental rights.

In a filing dated March 18 and presented by his lawyer Olujoke Aliyu from Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan sought redress before Justice Inyang Ekwo, requesting five reliefs.

Similarly, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager who escaped custody on March 22, initiated a separate suit before Justice Ekwo.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, in the suits marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, had sued the Office of NSA (ONSA) and EFCC as 1st and 2nd respondents.

Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, alleged that his detention and the confiscation of his international travel passport violated Section 35 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, constituting a breach of his fundamental right to personal liberty.

He further requested the court to order his immediate release and the return of his passport. Additionally, he sought an injunction preventing further detention related to any Binance investigations and demanded a public apology from the respondents, along with costs incurred.

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Gambaryan stated that he visited Nigeria on February 26 alongside Nadeem Anjarwalla, representing Binance, in response to invitations from ONSA and EFCC. Despite attending the meeting as requested, both were detained afterward without formal charges.

During the court proceedings, T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, representing Anjarwalla and Gambaryan, informed the court of the respondents’ absence despite being served. Krukrubo also mentioned their notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla, filed on March 26.

Justice Ekwo noted the withdrawal of legal representation and adjourned the matter to April 8 to allow the applicants to seek new representation and give the respondents an opportunity to appear.

In Gambaryan’s case, Krukrubo stated that although the processes were served on ONSA and EFCC, they still had time to respond. He requested an adjournment, indicating that the respondents’ deadline to file their applications would expire the following week.

Consequently, Justice Ekwo scheduled the next hearing for April 8 to continue proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government will arraign Binance Holdings Limited and its two top officials, Tigran Gambaryan and the fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla, on April 4 on allegations bordering on tax evasion.

Binance, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla, listed as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, are expected to be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja on a four-count charge.

Anjarwalla, who had been in detention alongside Gambaryan, was said to have escaped from lawful custody. He escaped on Friday from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained.

Binance Executive drags NSA, EFCC to court, demands public apology

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