By Ibrahim Habu Suleiman
It is gladdening at a time like this to hear the news of how the Kwara State House of Assembly recently passed an amendment bill suspending the payment of pension to former governors, their deputies and other political party office holders after their tenure. It is indeed cheering news for all lovers of democracy because it points the way towards transparency and good governance in our democratic set up. According to the news, former governors, their deputies and other holders of political office cease to be enjoying pension on being elected into any political office or on securing any political appointment after his/her tenure in office, unless the political appointment/office happens to be non-payable.
As a matter of fact, although the bill (at the time of filing in this write-up) was still awaiting the state governor’s assent, there is no doubt that it deserves commendation from all and sundry, particularly all the progressives in our midst as well as the downtrodden majority who thronged the polling stations to vote for change in the 2015 general elections. Of course, by this singular act of courage and wisdom, the Kwara State House of Assembly has distinguished itself as a truly progressive democratic institution that has the interest of the oppressed masses of the electorate at heart. While many other states houses of assembly might be busy passing controversial bills that ultimately only seek to divide the people against each other (leading to unending conflicts) for the benefit of the minority clique at the top, one cannot help but wonder at the maturity of this state House of Assembly for coming out with such a thought-provoking bill.
However, as has already been noted by right-thinking individuals, civil society and non-governmental organisations across the country there is the need for the bill to get the support of the National Assembly as well as the various other states houses of assembly across the country in order to strengthen and further give credence to the bill to enable it become law not only in one or two states but in all states of the federation. This would indeed be a major step forward not only towards stopping this unjust and unequal culture of taking double payments by a minority of the population when the majority is being denied even the basic necessities for their survival. Civil servants, for instance, in most states of the federation have virtually been going without salaries for several months to date while such unjust double payment of pension and salaries to top-level politicians continue unabated. A lot could be done with the billions of naira being expended on these top-level officers for their pension to cushion the harsh economic realities being faced by the masses of the population.
Interestingly, such populist bills seemed to have been non-existent during the sixteen years of the PDP leadership accused of massive corruption and consequently failing the masses of the population that voted it into power. That is why the APC should take this pioneering gesture by the Kwara State House of Assembly to make a laud statement that it has not been an accidental occurrence and hence must not be allowed to waste away in vain. Already the opposition party has opened its chapter of counter-criticisms and propaganda of the ruling APC as 2019 draws closer using the isolated dissenting voices within the party to equally accuse the party of failing the people. Of course, criticisms are good and necessary in order to bring the best out of any situation for progressive growth and development especially where such criticisms are objective. This is unavoidable and is quite in line with the principles of democracy. Certainly, it may not be enough to just declare that four years are not enough to fix the decay in the country accumulated over several years of corruption and misrule by past administrations. Needless to say, there is indeed room for improvement.
To this end, the Kwara State House of Assembly initiative could go a long way to assuring the electorates that the present administration that came to power on the change mantra is actually serious about bringing about true and lasting change for the betterment of the whole society.
Hence, the National Assembly should begin the process of adopting this bill and conducting a nation-wide campaign for all states houses of assembly to follow suit, which starting with the assent of the President of the Federal Republic would actually boost the administration’s anti-corruption bearing as this would be a huge step towards improving transparency and good governance based on trust, hence a big boost equally to the country’s position with the international anti-corruption index – Transparency International. Furthermore, the age-long phenomenon whereby injustice, inequality and virtual disregard of the rights of the individual to equal opportunities have negated the country’s aspirations to a truly free democratic society for general prosperity instead of individual primitive aggrandisement that is the order of the day.
Therefore, it is in this context that the ruling APC and indeed all lovers of good governance, transparency and corruption-free democracy should join forces towards making this initiative a national reality. Already, the Senate President Bukola Saraki, who would also be directly involved when the bill becomes an act of law because he was Kwara State Governor for eight years before his election to the Senate in 2015, has commended the initiative and called for the incumbent state governor’s assent.
Similarly, Nigerian Governors’ Forum should also endeavour to join forces with other progressive groups and individuals across the country by endorsing this initiative because of the foresightedness of this initiative towards curtailing corruption, inequality and setting the country on the path of massive socio-economic growth and development. Apparently, this initiative by the Kwara State House of Assembly is not only a bold and progressive move that would usher in monumental benefits to our entire democratic set-up, but it would also bring about the much needed socio-cultural cohesion amongst the various tribal, ethnic and religious groups for national unity, peace and stability.