Sanwo-Olu can stop pension payment to ex-Govs; I won’t do that – Okowa

 

BY NGOZI OKORIE

GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has said his administration will not toe the line of Lagos State on its planned repeal of the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension and other entitlements to former Governors and their Deputies.

He said Delta State had no plan to stop such payments, stressing that the state had an existing law on what accrued to the governors and their deputies, which he would not want to touch.

The Governor, who made this position known on Wednesday in Asaba, however, noted that his counterpart in Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, might have his reasons for repealing the law in his state.

According to Okowa, each state has the power to make decisions concerning governance, so he would not want to dwell on Sanwo-Olu’s decision.

He said, “We are not thinking in that direction. My counterpart in Lagos may have reasons he wants the law repealed. But we in Delta don’t want to go into that.

“I don’t want to comment on the decision of Lagos State Governor. Each state has the power to make a decision concerning its governance.”

The Governor also said the South-South governors would hold a meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, on the approval given to Zamfara State Government to manage its resources.

“That’s why South-South governors are insisting on restructuring and for us to manage our resources. We will be meeting with the President’s Chief of Staff on Friday in Port -Harcourt, and we believe our voice should be heard,” he said.

“If FG should allow Zamfara to manage their resources, South-South should also be allowed to manage its own,” Okowa added.