The
Delta State Government paid former Governor James Ibori N250m while he was in
jail in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2016,an investigation has
revealed.
It
will be recalled that Ibori was convicted on February 27 2012, after pleading
guilty to 10 counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud at a
Southwark Crown Court, London.
It
was learnt that Ibori, who was accused of stealing over £250m, was entitled to
life pension being a former governor of the oil-rich state.
The
ex-governor, who served between 1999 and 2007, was able to sign into law the
Delta State Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Rights and Other Benefits Law
2005 which was later amended in 2009.
The
law makes provision for an ex-governor to be paid N50m per year among other
perks.
Defending
the payment of the money to Ibori in 2012, the then Commissioner for
Information, Mr. Chike Ohgeah, said Ibori would continue to be paid N50m until
a court nullified his tenure in office.
Ogeah
said this in reaction to an affidavit deposed to by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission which accused the state government of enriching the
ex-governor.
He
said, “The truth is that like every other elected governor who had served the
state, Ibori was paid his pension entitlement and other benefits alongside his
deputy under existing law. The law is the Delta State Governor and Deputy
Governor Pension Rights and Other Benefits Law 2005 and the Delta State
Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Rights and Other Benefits (Amendment) Law
2009.”
Calculations
by one of our correspondents showed that for the five years Ibori spent in the
UK prison, he was paid N250m by the state government.
Delta
State is one of the states in the country currently struggling to pay salaries
and which received bailout fund from the Federal Government.
According
to a report on the bailout funds monitoring of states conducted by the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, in
February 2016, Delta State had N36, 417,217, 601.53 as total debt value accrued
from staff salaries and emoluments. The state was granted N10, 936, 799, 299 as
bailout fund from the Federal Government.
Speaking
on Saturday, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said the matter was a
structural problem and it would be unfair to single out Ibori.
Falana
explained that several states including those who could not pay salaries, were
paying pensions to ex-governors who had also looted their state treasuries.
He
said, “The matter goes beyond Ibori because he is not the only ex-governor
collecting the pension. The law in Delta State does not say an ex-governor
should stop receiving pay if he is convicted.
“The
matter shows the failure of the Nigerian system. I am not defending Ibori but I
don’t think he should be singled out. Pension for ex-governors should be
scrapped completely.”
Meanwhile,
the Delta State Government on Saturday said it was legal for it to honour the
laws of the state by paying severance packages and other entitlements ascribed
to former governors and deputies including Ibori.
The
state government said it would be flouting the law if it decided not to pay the
former governor.
Speaking
through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa
said on Saturday that if the state government was owing Ibori his severance
package, the government would clear the backlogs as clearly stipulated by law.
“If
Ibori is entitled to pension by law, we will not take it away from him because
that will be breaching the law . Even if he is owed, it is sure that he
deserves the entitlements.’’
He
also added that Ibori contributed meaningfully to the infrastructural
development of the state and laid the foundation upon which successive
governments were building on.
Source:Punch
Tags
Politics