use his “good offices as trustee of the state’s resources, and
consistent with your constitutional oath of office, to reject the
proposed life pension bill by the leader of the House of Assembly Peter
Akpe, and to prevail upon the House to immediately withdraw the
self-serving bill.”
The House had last week passed a bill that would grant life pensions to
speakers, deputy speakers and other members. Under the bill, speakers
will go home with N500,000 monthly, while deputy speakers will receive
N200,000. 24 other members will each get N100,000. The House is seeking
life pensions for members similar to those “applicable to former
presidents, vice-presidents, governors and deputy governors across the
country.”
But reacting, SERAP said: “Public officials have a legal commitment to
discharge a public duty truthfully and faithfully. Should you assent to
the bill as proposed, SERAP will institute legal proceedings to
challenge the legality of the legislation and ensure full compliance
with constitutional provisions and Nigeria’s international
anti-corruption obligations.”
In the letter dated 26 April 2019 and signed by SERAP deputy director
Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “The bill amounts to an
incorrect and improper performance of public functions. It’s clearly an
abuse of legislative functions by the lawmakers. Rather than sponsoring
bills that would improve access of children in Bayelsa to quality
education, the lawmakers are taking advantage of their entrusted public
positions to propose a bill to collect large severance benefits.”
According to the organization: “The lawmakers are clearly the major
beneficiaries under the proposed legislation. Therefore, by passing the
life pension bill, the lawmakers of Bayelsa State House of Assembly have
violated the constitutional and international prohibitions on conflicts
of interest.”
The letter read in part: “The people of Bayelsa would expect you, as
their governor, to use your entrusted public office to act in the public
interest, including by rejecting the life pension bill and prevailing
upon the House of Assembly to immediately drop the bill.”
“Conflicts of interest as well as perceptions of such conflicts would
undermine public confidence in the integrity and honesty of not only the
Bayelsa State House of Assembly but also your government, if urgent
action is not taken to prevail upon the House to drop the outrageous
bill.”
“SERAP notes that Bayelsa State has in recent years received trillions
of Naira from the federation account. Yet, according to the State
Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), over 265,000 Nigerian children
lack access to basic education in the State. The public funds that would
be spent to pay life pensions to the lawmakers could be well used to
address the problem of growing rate of out-of-school children in the
state.”
“It is forbidden for any public official including lawmakers to engage
in self-dealing, and place him/herself in a position of conflicting
interests and to hold incompatible functions or illicitly engage in
providing to him/herself emoluments deemed unacceptable,
unconstitutional and illegal.”
“In the Seventh Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as
amended), you commit to strive to ‘preserve the Fundamental Objectives
and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in the Constitution,
[and not to] allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct
or my official decisions’. You also commit to: protect and defend the
constitution, and to ‘do right to all manner of people according to law
[and to] devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of
Nigeria’.”
“Constitutional oath of office requires public officials including
lawmakers to abstain from all improper acts, including passing the life
pension bill, that are inconsistent with the entrusted positions and the
overall objectives of the Constitution. We believe that a false oath
lacks truth and justice. The oath statements require the oath takers to
commit to uphold and defend the Constitution.”
“Under the bill, former lawmakers, including persons of Bayelsa origin
who served in the old Rivers State, would enjoy life pensions for ‘their
services’ in the state as applicable to former presidents,
vice-presidents, governors and deputy governors across the country.”
“It is estimated that hundreds of lawmakers will benefit from the life
pension proposed legislation, which will invariably cost Bayelsa State
at least N20 million taxpayers’ money monthly. This amount will increase
in subsequent years.”
“SERAP believes that the action by the lawmakers is entirely
inconsistent and incompatible with the object and purpose of the UN
Convention against Corruption, to which Nigeria is a state party and
which implicitly prohibits large severance benefits for public officials
such as members of Bayelsa State House of Assembly.”
“The convention, which is binding on all states of the federation,
specifically in paragraph 1 of article 8 requires the lawmakers to
promote integrity, honesty and responsibility in the management of
public resources.”