Military leaders benefit from pension law

The National Assembly yesterday brought an end to the controversy over whether past military heads of the federal government should be entitled to pension by approving what amounts to an enhanced pension package for the men through the joint passage of the ‘Remuneration for former presidents, Heads of State, Heads of federal legislative Houses and Chief Justice of the Federation Bill 2010 (SB 153)'.

Currently, the Constitution provides pension for only the president and the vice president, which, according to the 1999 Constitution, will be equivalent to the salary of the incumbent president. However, the new law introduces the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Senate president and his deputy, and the Speaker and his deputy, into the league of past leaders to benefit from the pension.

Past leaders to benefit from the act include Yakubu Gowon, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, and Abdusalami Abubakar.

The law, however, restricts anybody who has held 2 offices that are eligible for the perk to only one - the highest of those offices which s/he has held in order of national precedence. Thus, Olusegun Obasanjo will have to choose whether he would want his pension to be paid as former military ruler or as a democratically elected president.

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