*Assents to ex-govs’ Pension Repeal Bill
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill into law, while assuring that the administration would build on the ongoing infrastructural development and increased investments in social protection and youths empowerment.
He also assented to the bill repealing pension payments to former governors and former deputy governors in the state following widespread support from the public when the proposal came up for public hearings at the Kwara State House of Assembly.
The Governor had last year November sought the repeal of the law — both a fulfilment of his campaign promise and a response to public opposition to the pension package that many decred as being unfair.
Speaker Yakubu Danladi, who led members of the House of Assembly to the brief budget signing ceremony, told the governor that members of the public were unanimous about a need to repeal the pension law during the hearing.
Signing the N137.6 billion appropriation bill into law, the governor commended the House members for their hard work, adding: “This budget will build on the achievements of the previous years in the areas of education, health, and roads infrastructure. We are also focusing on youth empowerment, job creation, and social investments which are very critical at this point of our national life.”
AbdulRazaq said social protection is most important at this time to prevent more people from falling into abject poverty, commending the conditional cash transfer (CCT) initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari which is already being replicated in Kwara State.