Yayale Ahmed, SGF
The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental-Governmental Affairs on Wednesday rejected the N1.2bn proposal by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the upkeep of former Heads of State and their deputies.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said his conscience would not permit him to defend it before the Senate Committee on Appropriation to which he directed the SGF.
A Permanent Secretary at the SGF’s office, Mr. Taiye Haruna, who represented the SGF, Yayale Ahmed, told the committee that the N1.2bn was not captured in the 2011 budget proposals, but that it would be presented to the committee later.
He also said that the sum of N2.2 billion was proposed for the upkeep of the former leaders in 2010, but was also dropped when the budget was being computed.
Adeyemi was visibly angry at the proposal.
He told the SGF, “I will not be able to defend this before the appropriation committee. My conscience will not permit me to do that. I think that these retired Heads of State should be able to take care of their needs, but we are still paying so much in the face of people not being able to eat three square meals a day. It is unfair.
“I cannot understand why we are going to be spending so much money on former Heads of State who presided over the affairs of this country rightly and wrongly when we are growing an army of unemployed youths who are now capable of staging a revolution.
“It is unfair to set aside N2bn for a few people who were part of those who mismanaged this country when there are no jobs, when there are no drugs in the hospitals and there is so much poverty in the land.”
Haruna explained further that N1.2bn was actually meant to cater for the needs of the former leaders which were already in arrears.
He said there were seven living former Heads of State; five former Vice-Presidents, six families of deceased leaders and two families of deceased Vice-Presidents.
He argued that the upkeep was in line with the Act recently passed by the National Assembly on the upkeep of the former Heads of State.
He said a five bedroom housing accommodation was supposed to be built for each of the former leaders in any location of their choice with telephone services. The government is also expected to provide, at least, three vehicles for them and pay the salaries of their personal staff.
The funds will also be used to cater for them whenever they visit Abuja, as well as pay for other courier services required by the former leaders.
Haruna also explained that as soon as the major provisions were made, the annual upkeep would not be more than N250m.
But Adeyemi noted that though the Act had come into force, he stood against it as it did not represent the interest of the people of Nigerians.
According to him, he would continue to oppose the implementation of the Act, hoping that someday the Act would be revisited for a possible repeal or amendment.
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