Zamfara residents react to past leaders’ jumbo allowances
Residents of Zamfara State, especially workers, have thrown their weight behind the decision of Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle to repeal the law backing jumbo allowances for former governors, their deputies, speakers and their deputies.
Some of them who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday said there was no moral justification for past political officeholders to allocate mindboggling allowances to themselves when pensioners in the state were owed billion of naira.
The secretary of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners in the state, Alhaji Abba Muhammad Dankande, said the abolishment of the law allowing for such packages for past political leaders was good for not only the pensioners but other citizens of the state too.
“The annulment of the law is in order. We are totally in support of the decision. The pensioners in the state have been struggling to get their entitlements. Some have even died in the efforts to get their benefits. We are calling on the state government to offset the outstanding pension payments in the state,’’ Dankande said.
A former deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala, also told Daily Trust on Sunday that he was in support of anything that would stop the pillaging of the meagre resources of the state to the detriment of the public.
“Former Governor Abdulaziz Yari deliberately withheld my entitlements as deputy governor. This happened when we were in office. But he wrote a letter demanding for his so-called allowances. I can tell you that that money would have been used in mobilising politicians,’’ he alleged.
Also, Usman Aminu said ordinary citizens of the state would have suffered for many years had the law not been repealed. He said the former Governor Yari administration was not sensitive to the needs of the poor in the state.
“It means that, had the All Progressives Congress (APC) scaled through, 12 persons would have been pocketing N700 million yearly. And no one would know this because it would have been the former governor’s stooge in power. From this N700m, each of the 14 local government areas would have N50m yearly. Imagine what N50m can do in a local government area,’’ he said.
A retired civil servant, Alhaji Sani Kabiru, said it took him more than five years to get his retirement benefit during the past administration. He added that even when the benefit came, it was nothing to write home about.
Aliyu Isah, a civil servant also said, “It is sheer wickedness for someone to corner N120m annually in an environment where some workers are still being paid N7,000. I am on grade level 10, but my salary is hovering around N37,000.
“Workers tried hard to get pay increase, but to no avail. Look at how our leaders are allocating money to themselves. Had the state assembly not intervened, the state would have fleeced to the point of collapse; and it would have been very dangerous.’’
However, Umar Abdullahi said he did not see anything wrong in paying the huge allowances to the former governors and their deputies. He said people should not look at the amount of money but the enormous responsibilities of the past leaders.
“If you look at the weight of the responsibilities they shoulder, even after leaving office, you would understand that the money is nothing. They are not ordinary citizens like you and I. They have domestic aides and a very large family to cater for. What is N10m? I see nothing wrong in this,’’ he said.
From 1999 till date, Zamfara State has had three governors, three deputies, three assembly speakers and three deputy speakers, making a total of 12 so far.
After the amendment of the pension law in March this year, every month, each former governor would have N10m as upkeep allowance, deputies N5m each, former speakers N3m, while their deputies would get N1.5 each.
A breakdown of the allowances showed that the three former governors of the state, Ahmad
Sani Yarima, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi and Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar would have been taking a whooping sum of N360m annually while the three former deputy governors would have been getting N180m. Also, the three former speakers would have gotten N108m while their deputies would have pocketed N54m annually had the law on the jumbo packages for them not been repealed.
The repealed law, among other things, also provided that a former governor was entitled to a monthly pension equivalent to the salary he was receiving while in office.
Again, two vehicles would be bought by the state government, which would be replaced every four years. There would also be free medical treatment for a former governor and his immediate family, as well as a 30-day vacation within Nigeria or overseas. This was in addition to a five-bedroom house in any location of choice of the former governor within the country.
The law also extended similar largesse to former deputy governors, speakers of the state assembly and former deputy speakers. It is estimated that it would cost the state the sum of N702m every year to settle the upkeep allowances of the beneficiaries of the repealed law.
Governor Matawalle had, on Wednesday assented to the bill stopping jumbo allowances for former governors, deputies, speakers and their deputies.
The abolishment of the law came barely 48 hours after a letter by former Governor Yari to the Zamfara State Government, demanding the payment of his upkeep allowances. The letter generated a heated debate within and outside the state.
While assenting to the bill,
It means that, had the All Progressives Congress (APC) scaled through, 12 persons would have been pocketing N700 million yearly. And no one would know this because it would have been the former governor’s stooge in power. From this N700m, each of the 14 local government areas would have N50m yearly. Imagine what N50m can do in a local government area
Matawalle alleged that former Governor Yari paid himself N360m from the state pension funds, shortly before he left office. He also paid selected permanent secretaries.
“If you remember, former Governor Yari sent a letter to me, demanding that his N10m monthly upkeep allowances be paid. He was even threatening to take me to court should I fail to pay the money.
“I called my deputy, the state assembly speaker and his deputy and asked whether they needed such mindboggling allowances and they all answered in negative. Then we decided to repeal the law backing the payment and I have assented to it.
“Our successors will not find it easy to come up with such obnoxious law to pillage the little resources of the state in the future. There is no reason whatsoever the state should pay past leaders a whopping sum of N702m annually, to the detriment of dying pensioners in the state.
“It is on record that the backlog of pension and gratuity for local government workers and primary school teachers left behind by the Abdulaziz Yari administration stands at N3billion while that of the state government retired civil servants also stands at N3b,” Governor Matawalle said.
The chairman of the publicity committee of the APC in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad Birnin Magaji, did not return multiple calls to him at the time of filing this report.