The Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, has
declined assent to the bill seeking pension for current and former lawmakers of
the state as hastily proposed and passed by the state House of Assembly last
week.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Daniel
Iworiso-Markson, said the governor has already conveyed the decision to
withhold assent to the bill in a letter to the Speaker of the state House of
Assembly on Monday.
Earlier, Dickson held consultations with the assembly
members in his country home in Toru-Orua, Sagbama local council, where he
explained his reason for declining assent to the bill.
Iworiso-Markson noted that the governor refused to
sign the bill into law because it was inconsistent with Section 124 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
He said the governor was of the view that the state
assembly lacked the powers to expand the categories of public servants who
should be entitled to pension.
The commissioner stressed that he had to withhold
assent to the bill because the state which bedeviled with a lot of challenges
in spite of its low internally generated revenue base and unstable earnings
from the oil economy was the only state in Nigeria to come up with such bill.
The governor stressed that he was guided in the
decision by the principle that government should not be for a selected class of
the privileged in the society.
According to him, “The provisions of this bill
granting pension to members of Bayelsa State House of 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 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“I am not convinced about the legality of this bill
which seeks to expand the categories of persons entitled to pension. While I
agree that the assembly can adjust the quantum of pension payable to persons
entitled to pension, I am not convinced that the assembly 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 State which is coping with all the myriads of issues and
challenges, with our low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) 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 and
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.”
Dickson added that notwithstanding his decision to
decline assent to the bill, he still holds the assembly in very high esteem.
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