ENetSuD, 527 KWARANS, BACK ABDULRAHMAN ON REPEAL OF PENSION LAW

The Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), a Kwara-based Civil Society Organization, has commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for throwing his weight behind its advocacy for the repeal of Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Law in Kwara State. ENetSuD also stated that the repeal of the law proposed by the Governor through an executive bill submitted to the Kwara House of Assembly (KWHA) will enjoy the support of at least 527 Kwarans who have so far joined its advocacy for the law to be repealed in the state.

It will be recalled that ENetSuD and 263 other Kwarans wrote the Speaker of the KWHA (Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi) on 6th January, 2020 to request for the obnoxious pension law to be repealed in the state. Sadly and in a clear disregard for public request, the Danladi-led 9th KWHA failed to meet the yearnings of Kwara citizens after 316 days of receiving the request.

The inactions of the KWHA on the pension law and also the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill are discouraging for citizens who are supposed to see the Assembly as the only place to approach whenever they want legislation in the state. Even though it also took the Governor one and half year after assuming office to initiate the repeal of the law in fulfilment of his campaign promise, we consider his action, albeit slow, as an attempt to meet the public yearnings.

ENetSuD noted that out of the three (3) key advocacies it has been leading in Kwara state, two (2) have been fulfilled by AbdulRahman-led administration while one (1) is yet to be satisfactorily fulfilled. ENetSuD listed the fulfilled advocacies as the “Access of accumulated UBEC grant” and the “Repeal of the Governor Pension law”. ENetSuD acknowledges that, though its advocacy for the domestication of FOI Act in Kwara state led to the commendable introduction of the novel Social Audit in the state, the advocacy has not yet been fully successful until the FOI Act is domesticated in Kwara state. Despite the gains that Kwara is recording with Social Audit (which must be sustained), we urge that the FOI bill be also passed into law to institutionalise public access to information beyond the life-span of this administration, ENetSuD added.

ENetSuD and the 527 Kwarans that started the advocacy for the repeal of Governor Pension law in Kwara state will do all their best to ensure that the public hearing on the bill will make a significant impact on its repeal.

Signed,
Usman Radhiyyat Taiye (Mrs),
Deputy Coordinator (Administration),
Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD)
19/11/2020