Kwara Govt replies Saraki’s aide, says ex-governors’ pension law was not repealed in 2018

TRACKING____Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, the Press Officer, Local Matters to the former Governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki slammed Abdulrazaq, the incumbent governor on Friday, November 13, 2020, over the plan to revoke the pension law, saying the governor needed to check records before copying policies from other states.

Abdulqadir said the Kwara State House of Assembly revoked the law in 2018, adding that his principal, Saraki had stopped receiving pension since then.

However, in a statement signed by Rafiu Ajakaye, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abdulrazaq, the state government said the pension law has not been repealed at any time.

The statement reads in part, “What was done in 2018 was a slight amendment to the law. The amendment was a child of necessity to suspend payment of pension only for former governors/deputy governors who are serving in any public office and getting paid for it.

“This was to disallow double payment from the treasury to the same individuals, as was the case in Kwara State when Dr. Bukola Saraki was in the Nigerian Senate and was at the same time taking humongous pension in the state.”

Ajakaye said the plan to revoke the law in Kwara State is consistent with Abdulrazaq’s view even before he became the state governor.

He said the governor “will send a bill to the House of Assembly to finally repeal the law next week. This is consistent with his views, right from his days as a candidate, that the meagre resources available to the state are better channelled to tackle poverty and youths unemployment.

“We hope this helps to set the record straight, while the media is urged to always interrogate claims from quarters renowned for constantly misleading the public in public statements and actions over the years.”

The Abdulrazaqs and the Sarakis have remained the two main families controlling Kwara politics since the 70s when the patriarchs of the families, the late Alhaji Abdulganiy Abdulrazaq Folohunsho and the late Olusola Saraki established themselves as political giants in the state.