Saraki returned pensions To Kwara Govt
The Secretary to Kwara State Government, SSG, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, has disclosed that all monies paid to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as pension have been “deducted from the money owed him as well as his other outstanding lawful entitlements” and returned to the coffers of the state government.
The SSG made this known yesterday in Ilorin in a statement, he noted Saraki, who was a two-term governor of the state, had stopped receiving pen-sions since August 2015.
Alhaji Gold did not state how much was returned to government coffers, but said a letter dated August 20, 2015, by the Senate President also directed that money credited to his account for pensions be refunded to the government.
He said: “The government not only stopped the payment of the said pension, the amount already paid into Dr. Saraki’s account since he left office was deducted from the money owed him as well as his other outstanding lawful entitlements.”
According to him, Saraki is entitled to the money he returned as provided in the third schedule, Paragraph D (i) of the Governor and Deputy Governor (payment of pension) Law, No. 12 of 2010 of Kwara State.
He said apart from Saraki, other former governors and their deputies were entitled to pension as provided by the law.
He stressed that “it should be noted that neither the Kwara State Government nor Dr. Bukola Saraki violated the state pension law or any other law for that matter. The State Pension Law empowers the State Government to pay pensions to former Governors of the State.”
The SSG said the Senate President should be commended for his decision to abandon his legal entitlements, noting that “it is the hope of the state government that this clarification will end all the controversies.”
Bukola Saraki
The SSG made this known yesterday in Ilorin in a statement, he noted Saraki, who was a two-term governor of the state, had stopped receiving pen-sions since August 2015.
Alhaji Gold did not state how much was returned to government coffers, but said a letter dated August 20, 2015, by the Senate President also directed that money credited to his account for pensions be refunded to the government.
He said: “The government not only stopped the payment of the said pension, the amount already paid into Dr. Saraki’s account since he left office was deducted from the money owed him as well as his other outstanding lawful entitlements.”
According to him, Saraki is entitled to the money he returned as provided in the third schedule, Paragraph D (i) of the Governor and Deputy Governor (payment of pension) Law, No. 12 of 2010 of Kwara State.
He said apart from Saraki, other former governors and their deputies were entitled to pension as provided by the law.
He stressed that “it should be noted that neither the Kwara State Government nor Dr. Bukola Saraki violated the state pension law or any other law for that matter. The State Pension Law empowers the State Government to pay pensions to former Governors of the State.”
The SSG said the Senate President should be commended for his decision to abandon his legal entitlements, noting that “it is the hope of the state government that this clarification will end all the controversies.”
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