APA-Abuja (Nigeria)

Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki has refunded all the monies he received as pension to the Kwara state government, where he served as governor.

The secretary to Kwara State Government (SSG), Alhaji Isiaka Gold, confirmed on Wednesday that the money is back in the coffers of the state government.

The SSG made this known on Wednesday in Ilorin in a press statement issued to clarify the issue of Saraki’s pension being paid by the state government.

According to Gold, Saraki, who was a two-term governor of the state, had stopped receiving pension from the state since August 2015.

The SSG did not state how much was returned to government coffers, but said in a letter dated August 20, 2015 the Senate President also directed that money credited to his account for pension be refunded to the government.

“Dr Saraki requested that the payment of pension to his account be stopped, and the amount already credited to the account be refunded to the Government, and the State Government promptly complied.

“The Government not only stopped the payment of the said pension; the amount already paid into Dr Saraki’s account since he left office was deducted from the money owed to him, as well as his other outstanding lawful entitlements,” Gold added.

According to him, Saraki is entitled to the money he returned as provided for in the payment of pension law of Kwara State. He added that apart from Saraki, other former governors and their deputies were entitled to pension as provided for by the law.

“It should be noted that neither the Kwara State Government nor Dr Bukola Saraki violated the state pension law or any other law for that matter.

“The State Pension Law empowers the State Government to pay pension to former Governors of the State,” Gold stressed.

Saraki had earlier said he stopped collecting pension in Kwara state, where he was the governor between 2003 and 2011.

According to Saraki, the move followed complaints from some quarters that former governors who are currently senators or ministers were receiving pension and salary in their new jobs, all from the government.

A civil society organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), had accused the former governors of receiving double pay from government, and said this was illegal.

MM/afm/APA