Amaechi Denies Collecting Pension From Rivers Government

Nigeria’s transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi, on Thursday denied receiving any money as pension from the Rivers state government. In his Tweet reaction to a story published in Daily Trust newspaper today, the former Rivers state governor said he does not believe that he should receive any pension as ex-governor while currently serving as a minister.

“I have never requested for or collected one Kobo as pension from R/State Govt. “If offered, I will politely decline & request that the money should be given to Rivers State pensioners. “I do not believe that I should receive pension as ex-gov of R/State while serving as a minister,” Amaechi wrote. See his tweet below: Daily Trust had earlier reported that former governors and deputies who are now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly are silent over the ruling of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos which ordered them to refund all monies they collected as pensions after leaving their executive offices. The Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos had, in a landmark judgement, ordered the federal government to “recover pensions collected by former governors now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly.” It also directed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws permitting former governors and other ex-public officials to collect pensions.