Some of the lawmakers have supported the amendment of the pension rights of governors and their deputies so as to have Obi included while other lawmakers rejected the move.
Members of the Delta State House of Assembly are said to be currently divided following moves by some members to have a former Acting Governor, Sam Obi, included in the pension scheme for governors and their deputies.
Some of the lawmakers have supported the amendment of the pension rights of governors and their deputies so as to have Obi included while other lawmakers rejected the move.
Confiding in SaharaReporters on Monday, an aggrieved lawmaker, disclosed that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa had sent an executive bill to the House to amend the pension rights and other benefits because of Obi, who is his kinsman.
“Sam Obi acted as governor in 2010 for only six weeks when former governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's election was annulled by the Court of Appeal in Benin and a re-run election was conducted.
“The governor is pushing the bill through the House’s Majority Leader, Tim Owhofere, after it was first read on October, 22, 2019, seeking to make his kinsman, Obi, a beneficiary of the pension rights of governors and deputy governors.
“The bill has passed the first and second reading and referred to the committee on rules and business.
“Some of my colleagues, including Reuben Izeze and so many others have opposed the bill.
“Obi disappointed Deltans, put the state into massive debt within his few weeks reign as acting governor and as such cannot enjoy any pension rights,” the lawmaker stated.
The All Progressives Congress in Delta State has condemned the move, saying it is against the wish of the people of the state.
In a statement by the party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Sylvester Imonina, the APC accused Governor Okowa of continuously subjecting Deltans to more hardship.
Some of the benefits to be enjoyed by Obi if the amendment sails through include a well-furnished five bedroom duplex in Delta State and any other state in Nigeria worth over N300m, a well-furnished and equipped office in any location of the state of his choice, two armed policemen and one State Security officer not below the rank of a DSO.
Two vehicles every two years, which must not be below the sum of N20m each, one of them must be a utility vehicle.
The benefits also include free medical treatment for Obi and members of his immediate family including within and outside Nigeria, 15 days annual vacation anywhere within and outside Nigeria among others.
Our correspondent gathered that plans were in top gear by civil society groups to stage a peaceful protest against the move.