The
Lagos State Government has justified the enactment of laws prescribing
pension for former governors and deputy governors of the state.
The state government insisted that
contrary to the contention of the plaintiffs who are challenging the
law, through their suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja, the state
House of Assembly had the powers to enact such law for former governors
and their deputies in the absence of a federal legislation in that
regard.
The plaintiffs’ suit, which is before
Justice Ahmed Mohammed, was instituted against the 36 states’ governors,
their Houses of Assembly, the Attorney-General of the Federation and
the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
The plaintiffs are 36 non-governmental
organisations including Human Development Initiatives, numbering 36, and
two activists – Ayodeji Kolawole and Tunde Asaju.
They jointly filed the suit through their counsel, Mr. Chino Obiagwu, on July 15, 2014.
Apart from Lagos State, other state
governments such as those of Sokoto, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Kwara
have also defended such laws.
The various states, through their
governors and Houses of Assembly, have filed counter-affidavits and
notices of preliminary objection seeking the dismissal of the suit.
Justice Mohammed had on Tuesday fixed October 15 for hearing of the applications by some of the state governments.
In their joint counter-affidavit and
notice of preliminary objection to the suit, Lagos State governor and
the House of Assembly insisted that RMAFC was not the only
constitutional body empowered to stipulate the remuneration of public
officers.
The counter-affidavit deposed to by a
counsel in the office of Lagos State Attorney General, Mr. Justin
Jacobs, also stated that the plaintiffs’ suit was misleading, adding
that they failed to tender any document to show that the said pension
law had been enacted.
But the counter-affidavit did not also deny that the law had been enacted by the Lagos State House of Assembly.
It read in part, “In response to
paragraph four of the affidavit in support, I state that the paragraph
is not correct to the extent that it states that the 74th defendant
(RMAFC) is the only constitutional body mandated to stipulate the
remuneration of public office holders in Nigeria, including the 1st –
36th defendants (state governors) and their deputies.”
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