Will Akpabio, Other Ex-Governors Follow Daniel’s Example of Upholding Public Interest?

Recent request by Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, for the immediate suspension of his retirement benefits as former governor of Ogun state has set an example for 13 other former governors, currently serving as Senators in the 10th National Assembly to emulate. Gboyega Akinsanmi writes.

On July 6, 2023, a four-paragraph letter written by former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, became an issue of public knowledge. But the letter was dated June 14, 24 hours after Daniel was formally inaugurated as the Senator representing Ogun East and addressed to Ogun State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun

Daniel’s letter dwelt on an issue that touched the nerve of most Nigerians, mainly at a time when the cost of governance had been at the core of national conversation. Daniel, a two-term governor of the state, simply requested the Government of Ogun State to forthwith suspend his retirement benefits until he again notified it to resume the payment of his statutory benefits.

The letter also clarified an issue of national concern bordering on outrageous retirement packages, which most former governors awarded themselves through legislation. Unlike many former governors, Daniel claimed that he had “not benefited from any welfare packages be it medical, furniture, transportation since he left office on May 28, 2011.”

He pointed out two reasons for demanding the suspension of his retirement benefits, which, according to him, was not political; neither was it connected to his seeming disagreement with the state governor.

Rather, as shown in the letter, the request “is in line with my conscience, moral principle, and ethical code against double emoluments as a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…”

Agreed, he admitted, the question around double emoluments placed a huge moral burden that he sought the discontinuity of his pension until further notice.

Daniel, therefore, justified the request on the need to comply with the rule of law and uphold public interest as another rationale behind the request. This is evident in the Paragraph 2a of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in the Fifth Schedule, Part 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Specifically, the paragraph of the 1999 Constitution unequivocally stipulates that without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, a public officer “shall not receive or be paid the emoluments of any public office at the same time as he receives or is paid the emoluments of any other public office or …”

By implication, no public officer – be he a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives, a governor or deputy governor, a president or vice president, even a Minister or Commissioner at the state level – shall be entitled to the payment of pension and allowances from any state of the federation.

Daniel’s request, perhaps uncommon in the Nigerian political context, elicited intense national conversation both from critics and proponents of his decision. For critics, Daniel’s request for the suspension of his retirement benefits is nothing, but a political decision, which they argued, further attested to the cold war between him and the incumbent governor of the Gatewat state.

The critics also claimed that Daniel made the request amid allegations of anti-party activities, which Ogun APC brought against him some days before his letter came to the public knowledge.

On its part, Ogun APC claimed that Daniel did not support President Bola Tinubu during the just concluded general elections. It also claimed that Daniel did not work for Abiodun’s victory.

All these claims, though unfounded, obviously attested to why Ogun APC issued different statements, tagging Daniel as an anti-Tinubu force. The claims further informed his critics to conclude that selfishness, not public interest, spurred Daniel to ask the Government of Ogun State to suspend the payment of his “monthly pension and allowances valued at N676,376.95 until further notice.”

But is there any connection between Daniel’s request for the suspension of his retirement benefits and his disagreement with Abiodun? This argument does not make sense for civil society organisations (CSOs) across the federation, especially with recent reports that 14 governors would collect pensions and other benefits worth N5.6 billion from their states, for the duration of the 10th Senate.

Rather, most of these CSOs assessed Daniel’s request principally from both constitutional and moral perspectives, which according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), were an example for other former governors in the 10th National Assembly and also stoke vital issues that would in the future either erode or boost public trust in the public officers.

The first question is whether 13 former governors are under obligation to follow Daniel’s example in the interest of the public or in compliance with relevant laws.

For most CSOs, Daniel’s decision “is consistent with the provision of the 1999 Constitution.” Thus, they argued, it is a duty for all public officers to ensure compliance rather than a decision aimed at attaining some political payoff.

Accordingly, SERAP challenged other former governors, currently serving in the 10th Senate, to comply with the constitutional requirement as Daniel explicitly did in the interest of the public. For the civil society at large, it is not about compliance with the constitution. It is also an issue of outright conformity to the judgement of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi and delivered on December 4, 2019.

In its wisdom, the court directed the federal government not just to recover pensions collected by former governors serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly, it also directed the apex government to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws.

Before he left office in May 2023, however, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami never executed this judgement.

The second concern borders on the imperative of upholding public interest through voluntary compliance with the provisions of the law. Like SERAP, One Love Foundation and Ogun Democratic Agenda, pointed out that Daniel’s decision was not only  highly commendable, but also exemplary by all standards.

Consequently, they did not just challenge other former governors – both serving and retired – to stop collecting double  emoluments from the state’s dwindling funds. They also challenged them to return the pensions collected to the treasury consistent with the Seventh Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, which delineated the oath of allegiance they swore to when they became governor.

Third, is Daniel the first former governor in the Senate, who requested for the suspension of the retirement benefits? Obviously, as official records have revealed, Daniel is not the first. In 2019, former Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki suspended his retirement benefits on August 1, 2017, more than two years after he emerged the President of the Eighth Senate and six years after his inauguration then as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

With these examples, obviously, Daniel and Saraki showed examples that most former governors, who either served as Ministers or Senators after their tenures of office, had never shown in the public interest. There are 13 other former governors, who are currently representing their respective senatorial districts in the 10th National Assembly alongside Senator Gbenga Daniel.

The former governors include the President of the 10th Senate, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom State); Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi State); Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State); Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto State); Abubakar Bello (Niger State), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe State); Danjuma Goje (Gombe State); Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara State); Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto State); Orji Kalu (Abia State); Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe State) and Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa State).

All the former governors, now serving in the Senate, swore to oaths of allegiance to defend public interest and discharge the duties of their offices in consonance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

Without exception, they are now under obligation not just to comply with the Fifth and Seventh Schedules of the 1999 Constitution. They are equally bound to comply with the decision of the federal high court that restrained former governors from collecting double emoluments.

The burden for compliance does not rest only on Daniel’s colleagues in the Senate. It is also binding on other public officers, who are currently holding executive offices or will soon be appointed to serve in the Federal and State Executive Councils.

The call does not exempt President Bola Tinubu who served as the governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.

Similarly, it does not exclude Vice President Kashim Shettima, who served as governor of Borno from 2011 to 2019 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation , Senator George Akume, who also governed Benue State between 1999 and 2007. As Daniel has patriotically demonstrated, every former governor or deputy governor, still holding public office, now has the duty to stop collecting double emoluments forthwith.