LABOUR UNION PRAISES JONATHAN FOR REJECTING LIFE PENSION FOR LAWMAKERS

Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has commended President Goodluck Jonathan for re¬fusing to sign a Constitution Amendment designed by the National Assembly to grant certain categories of legislators pension for life.
The union , in a statement by its National President, Bob¬oi Bala Kaigama, and the Sec¬retary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, described the move by the legislators as fraudulent.
It explained that despite popular opposition to huge salaries and allowances ap¬proved by the lawmakers for themselves, they were still bent on granting their princi¬pal officers generous pension for life, a scenario the union said would be a heavy burden on the treasury.
The union equally urged the President-elect, Major- General Muhammadu Buhari, to distance himself from the Constitutional Amendments when he mounts the saddle unless those self-serving pro¬visions by the lawmakers were deleted.
“It is worrisome that the National Assembly could ap¬prove pension for life for the Senate President, Deputy Sen¬ate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his Deputy, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of each of the 36 State Houses of As¬sembly for serving four and eight years on the average.
“You can imagine the huge¬sums of money that would be siphoned monthly through this ill-advised pension-for-life for the principal officers of the legislatures in Abuja and the 36 states of the federation,” the union stated.
According to ASCSN, un¬der the current pension law, public servants who serve the country for 35 years or attain the age of 60 years are retired without being paid any gratu¬ity while the pension that is paid is contributed by both the workers and employers.
It stated: “On retirement, these public service employ¬ees are paid 50 per cent of their entitlements while the other half is spread over the years.
“Yet, Nigerian politicians who serve the nation for four or eight years on the average want to pay themselves pen¬sion for life.”
The ASCSN pointed out that in rejecting the proposal for life pension for the prin¬cipal officers of the legisla¬tures, the Presidency lamented that “the National Assembly defied constitutional proce¬dures and resorted to the use of voice votes to pass such a fundamental Constitutional Amendment and added that it (the Presidency) would not be party to such illegality.”
It stressed that the associa¬tion was totally in support of the Presidency on this mat¬ter, stating that such financial recklessness would bring the economy to its knees and en¬joined the President-elect to distance himself from the cul¬ture of impunity that has been the bane of the current political dispensation.
“Where in the world do pol¬iticians approve life pension for themselves after serving for four or eight years?” the union wondered.
It urged the incoming gov¬ernors and State Houses of Assembly where such pension laws had been passed to re¬peal them because they offend good conscience and public morality.
Source: Sun