Life pension for AMAC ex-bosses
Under the noses of the National Assembly, the law Courts and within the vicinity of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the Office of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Federal Ministry of Justice, the legislative arm of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) passed an edict granting life pension for all those who served AMAC as Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and Speakers.
Many Nigerians assumed that the pension-for-life was limited to state governors, their deputies and the speakers of states houses of assembly and deputies. This belief is now invalid as one of the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory has made a law granting pension for life to its top ex-officials.
Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu Candido signed the edict approving the life pension to the six exchairmen, six former vice chairmen and eight previous speakers.
He explained that only former leaders who are alive would benefit from the N6 million annual pension packages.
“They are today heroes of this council and we would not allow their labour to be in vain,” the Chairman emphasised.
But the AMAC life pension is being challenged in a suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) asking the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court to “declare the life pension edict/law 2019, passed by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) null, void, illegal and unconstitutional; and to restrain and stop AMAC, its chairman; deputy chairman; speaker; legislature and/or their agents from paying life pensions to former officials under the edict/law.”
The AMAC pension edict provides that former chairmen would be paid an annual pension of N500, 000. Former vice chairmen are entitled to N300, 000 each. Former speakers will each be paid N200, 000 annually.
Newsdiaryonline quoted SERAP saying in the suit number CV/840/2020 that: “The AMAC edict granting life pensions to ex-officials is a blatant usurpation of the constitutional powers of the National Assembly. Unless stopped, AMAC and its officials will spend millions and ultimately, billions of taxpayers’ money on life pensions, the council’s funds that should be spent to address the poor state of basic amenities and deficits in educational institutions, primary healthcare facilities, potable water, sanitation and infrastructural needs of the residents within the council’s area.”
Also SERAP wants the Court to issue “an order to direct and compel AMAC, its chairman; deputy chairman; speaker; and legislature to recover all previous payments made under the AMAC life pension edict/law, and to return same to the coffers of the council.”
Similarly, SERAP sought “a declaration that AMAC and its officials have no constitutional or statutory authority whatsoever to enact any pension edict/law for the benefit of former officials.”
However, in other countries ex-elected Municipal leaders, like former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Ann Dixon was in 2010 given one of the most lucrative retirement benefits of any public employee in Maryland. Robert Little of the Baltimore Sun newspaper reported that her $83,000 annual pension is twice that of the Maryland Assembly members. San Diego ex-Mayor, Jerry Sanders, collects a $92,000 annual pension. A former mayor of Philadelphia receives $115,700 pension, $22,700 higher than Dixon’s.
Other ex-leaders made sacrifices. Five-term Memphis Mayor, Willie Herenton, forgo a $75,000 annual pension, for a lump-sum payment of about $500,000.
In the United Kingdom, James Kirkup reported in the Telegraph on March 11, 2014 that a 2003 law that made mayors and councillors entitled to pension was changed in 2014. The Telegraph reported that Councillors will no longer be entitled to taxpayer-funded pensions. Consequently, Boris Johnson, ex-Mayor of London, also lost his right to a public pension.
With different practices in different democratic countries, what do you do with the decision by AMAC to implement its pension edict?