Former
Presidents Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida,
Alhaji Shehu Shagari, and others have not been paid their salaries and
allowances by the Federal Government since January this year, it was revealed
yesterday.
Lawmakers on
the Senate Committee of Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, were
shocked when they learnt during a visit to the office of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF).
President
Muhammadu Buhari was yet to approve payment.
According to
findings, payment schedule had severally been sent for the President’s approval
to assess funds in the service wide vote for the purpose, but all attempts in
that direction were to no avail.
Explaining
the development, Lawal said: “There is a department responsible for payment of
former Presidents. Presently, funds are not available in service wide votes to
do that. We are aware there was a protest in Bayelsa State that the former
President was not paid, but we’ve explained that he’s not the only one
affected.
“Others
affected are Inter-religious Council, Traditional Rulers Council and so on. For
some reason, we have been writing and writing, but there had been no response.
And there is presently no money to pay them.
“The budget
for this year’s Democracy Day was N33million, and we had to do it on credit, we
are yet to pay. There are lots of retreat which ought to be organised, but
there’s no money to do any. The last time we got any release was in August.”
However, the
Senators who were not swayed by the explanation, kicked against the non-payment
of the former presidents, insisting the office of the SGF and the committee
must resolve the crisis.
The lawmakers
who blamed the SGF over the development, also stressed the need to draw the
attention of the Budget Office and Ministry of Finance to the development for
quick resolution.
One of the
lawmakers, who is the Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi,
described the non-payment of former presidents as abnormal.
“What we
have seen here is an abnormality. Before referring any matter to the National
Assembly, it is a function of the executive to appropriate funds. Therefore,
the SGF should understand that there is something wrong in this office that
must be addressed.
“There is no
way you can run the expenses of this office without cash backing. We definitely
have to draw the attention of the Budget Office and
Attempting
to persuade the lawmakers, the SGF said: “When I got into this office, there
was a lot of money in this account, but there was no Treasury Single Account
(TSA).
“Before the
government left office, they raised salaries. We told former Presidents
Jonathan and Obasanjo that they cannot earn twice what the others were earning.
So, we told them we wanted to review it, and we did. So, they now earn what the
others earn as well,” he said.
“When I came
into office, there was N1.5 billion in the account. We had payment of all
liabilities which came to N700 million. Then we wrote to the President to
return what was left to the TSA. That was how we came back to a zero balance.
“It is
painful to me because as a person I know all of them (Ex-presidents)
personally. Now, why have we not been able to get the money? We requested for a
budget of N700 million complaining, but the President has his way of doing
things.
“Look
around, you’ll see government vehicles breaking down every now and then.
Really, I know the challenges the Budget Office is facing, but the truth is the
funds are not just there. In any government, there are certain agencies that
must be served first before others. So we have agreed on that. However, we will
lean harder on the Finance Ministry to see that the situation is turned around.
“As SGF, I’m
getting embarrassed by chasing money coming from demands. All MDAS come to me
for things to be done, and it is not quite easy, but we try our best.
“Last year,
these political appointees had nothing. As for assistance, we really need assistance,
if not, but to retain all what we have budgeted for,” he added.
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