EFCC, ICPC Ask To Arrest Bayelsa Speaker, Others Over ‘Fraudulent, Anti-People’ Life Pension Bill

The group, Foundation For Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusaders (FOHURAC) has called on EFCC and ICPC to immediately arrest the Speaker of the Bayelsa state House of Assembly and other lawmakers over intent to commit huge financial crimes against the government and people of Bayelsa state.

FOHURAC in a statement signed by Cleric E. Alaowei, Esq., National President; Mr. Oyinkedi Foufegha, Publicity Secretary, said that the recent passage of the Life Pension Bill by Bayelsa Assembly was flagrant violation and abuse of the fundamental human rights of the people of the State.

The group in an SOS to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday night, said the bill is anti-people, anti-human, anti-development, anti-progress, wasteful, fraudulent, rights abuse, undemocratic and a flagrant abuse of political power.

They asserted that every lawmaker in the Assembly should be arrested, prosecuted and send to jail over the well calculated plan to commit financial crime against the government of Bayelsa State, saying that the implications of what the Assembly has done is so huge that it must not be swept under the carpet.

Giving a graphic details of the implications of the bill, the group said that from the provisions of the bill from Old Rivers State to present day Bayelsa State, Bayelsa has produced over 160 Lawmakers.

“That is, between 1999 to 2019, Bayelsa has gotten about 135 Lawmakers and over 20 Lawmakers in Old Rivers State.

“The bill states that a minimum of N100,000.00 will be paid to each Lawmaker either in Old Rivers or present day Bayelsa State. Therefore, N100,000.00 multiplied by 160 Lawmakers equals N16 Million on a monthly basis.

“If we then add the monthly pension for the 6 Speakers (N500,000.00 each) as well as the Deputy Speakers (N200,000.00 each), it will amount to N20,200,000.00 (twenty million, two hundred thousand naira) on a monthly basis.

“Recall that the Bill also featured packages for Bayelsans who became lawmakers and speakers in old Rivers State. Amongst the Bayelsans who became speakers in old Rivers State were Talford Ongolo (the present Chief of Staff to Governor Dickson) (SILGA Constituency 1), Tuesday Kemeagbeye (Ekeremor Constituency 2) and Claudius Enegesi (Ogbia Constituency 1) will all receive N500,000.00 each thereby increasing the pension to approximately N22 Million Naira.

“Again, the likes of former Governor Timipre Sylva, Bernard Agai, Fyneman Wilson, and several others will also be entitled to the monthly pension as they were lawmakers of Bayelsa origin who became legislators in old Rivers State thereby increasing the pension fund to N25 Million Naira.

“Arithmetically, N25 Million Naira multiplied by 12 Months equals N300 Million Naira a year as pension fund for lawmakers. If we then add the Pension for Governors and Deputy Governors, it will amount to a billion Naira of tax payers’ money.

“From the above, it is clear that this Bill is anti-people, anti-human, anti-development, anti-progress, wasteful, fraudulent, rights abuse, undemocratic and a flagrant abuse of political power.

“This bill is criminal in nature and character. Do you know that the cumulative pension fund for a year to take care of the Governors and men of the Assembly is the budgetary allocations for three (3) separate Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state? Do you know that in 20 years to come, this pension fund would have tripled in amount and figures?

The group argued that the bill if assented to would deprive the ordinary people of their share of equitable distribution of scarce resources, saying, “This is anti-democratic and extreme human rights violation by exposing the height of inhumanity of man towards his fellow man. 

Consequently, FOHURAC called on Nigerians, “especially the beleaguered Bayelsans to resist this devious act by the State’s lawmakers. We also call for immediate necessary actions of all lovers of humanity, anti-corruption agencies and bodies, human rights organisations, concerned government agencies, Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), social groups, etc., both domestic and international, to rise in defence of the pauperized of Bayelsans.

“No doubt, if the Bayelsa lawmakers succeed in this fraudulent act, other states in the federation will copy them. Who knows, maybe the federal lawmakers will do same despite our economic challenges.

“This is a SOS call for action against the barbaric, unconstitutional, wasteful, wicked, corrupt, abusive and unjustifiable pension bill and its irresponsible, greedy and corrupt masterminds who are nothing but power drunk opportunists piloting the affairs of bad governance.

The group lamented that the impacts of bad and wasteful governance, abuse of political power and human rights violations prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially in Nigeria, was the reason many Nigerians was fleeing the country trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and illegally gain access into Europe in search of greener pastures.

BIGPEN ONLINE recalls that the Bayelsa State House of Assembly had passed the 2019 pension bill for governor, deputy governor and the House of Assembly members last week and repealed the existing Bayelsa State State pensions for governor and deputy governor law 2003.

The bill, which was given accelerated passage on the floor of the House will enable the mentioned public servants to draw pensions at the end of their service.

Under the arrangement, the lawmakers like the governor’s and deputy would become pensioners after serving the state.