Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori was reportedly paid N250m by the state government, while he served a 13-year sentence in a United Kingdom jail.
According to PUNCH, the monies were paid between 2012 and 2016. The said amount was part of the entitlement due to a former Governor of the state.
An ex-Governor is entitled to N50m annually, according to the Delta State Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Rights and Other Benefits Law 2005 which was later amended in 2009.
In 2012, the then Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chike Ohgeah, 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.”
Chief Press Secretary to the Delta State Governor, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, said that the state will not breach the law by refusing to pay Ibori his entitlements.
He said: “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.”
Speaking on Saturday, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said pension for ex-governors should be scrapped.
“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,” Falana said.
“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.”