The Abia State House of Assembly on Tuesday, passed a bill to stop payment of pension to former governors and their deputies in the state.
It is entitled: “A Bill (H.A.B 11:) for a Law to Revoke The Abia State Governors and Deputy Governors Pensions Law No 4 of 2001 and for other Matters connected therewith.”
It was sponsored by Mr Uchanna Okoro, the Majority Leader and member Representing Arochukwu State Constituency.
The Speaker, Mr Emmanuel Emeruwa, announced the passage of the bill after its first, second reading, consideration at the committee of the whole and its 3rd reading during the day’s plenary.
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Emeruwa, while congratulating members, said that the bill would reduce the state’s governance expenses and redirect resources toward development.
He said that the bill once assented to by the governor would be referred to as “Abia State Governors and Deputy Governor’s (Repeal) Law 2024.”
The Speaker said that bill would take effect immediately, Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
With the passage of the bill, former governors and their deputies will no longer enjoy pension benefits after their tenures have expired.
There had been controversies over the years concerning the outrageous life person and other enviable benefits being paid to the governors and their deputies.
While few states had made moves to repeal the law, many states showed a nonchalant attitude toward doing so.
Abia State is a state in the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the northwest by Anambra State and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the southeast, and Rivers State to the south.
Abia is the only Southeastern state that has boundaries with the other four Southeastern states in Nigeria. It takes its name from the acronym for four of the state’s most populated regions: Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato, and Afikpo (but Afikpo was later joined with a part of Enugu state to create Ebonyi state in 1996). The state capital is Umuahia while the largest city and commercial center is Aba.
