Constitution Amendment: Senate and House Leadership to get Pensions for life

The National Assembly’s recent decision to provide life pensions to its presiding officers, including the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as their deputies, has enraged civil society organizations and some senior advocates.

The incumbent Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, and their deputies will gain if the idea is approved by the senate.

The Joint Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution of the National Assembly laid its report including 68 recommendations in the respective chambers on Wednesday.

Members of the House of Representatives will consider and adopt the proposals on Wednesday, while the Senate votes on the amendment legislation on Tuesday.

Already Section 84(5) of the Nigerian constitution guarantees life pension for all former Presidents and Vice-Presidents, a cost which gulps an average of N7.8bn yearly.

The provision in the constitution reads, “Any person who has held office as President or Vice-President shall be entitled to pension for life at a rate equivalent to the annual salary of the incumbent President or Vice-President: Provided that such a person was not removed from office by the process of impeachment or for breach of any provisions of this constitution.”

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