POLITICS DIGEST – Niger state government has said there was no arrangement in place which compels it to pay pension to former governors and their deputies who served the state.
The government says it pays what it called severance allowance instead to the departing political heads.
A statement by the Director General of the state pension board, Alhaji Ahmed Tinau Mohammed, on Tuesday said beneficiaries of severance allowance are political heads at state and local government level, which also includes former governor and their deputies, local government chairmen and their vice and state legislators and counselors.
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“The severance allowance is not a recurring perpetual payouts but a one time payment authorized under extant state law.
“This payment (severance allowance) are supported by an extant law known as a law to provide special grants/severance allowances to all political office holders in the state including governors and their deputies; 2013,” it explained.
The statement said the clarification had become necessary following the inclusion of Niger state in the list of states owing ex-governors pension.
“To the best of my knowledge there is no state law, past or present that awards a regular pension to be pay to former Niger state governors as pension.
“The gospel truth is that the state does not pay a dime to our former governors as pension,” the statement added.
