By: Muhammad Aliyu
Dutse
Against the back drop of insinuation making the round in Jigawa state, the Spekeaker of the state House of Assembly, RT. Hon, Adamu Ahmed Sarawa, has reacted sharply in response to allegations some critics were making against the bill saying it was done constitutionally.
Briefing newsmen at the weekend, Sarawa explained that it was unwise and a shame to see a personnel who served the state as a governor, selling weeds or begging to urvive.
“You either help to give him monthly pension or rather pay the way for him to embark on stealing or committing any unwarranted crime with a view to feed his family”, he said.
The speaker said that the bill, though contained in section 124 [subsection 5] of the 1999 constitution as amended , it will further reduce corruption, drastically, from the side of the leaders in the country.
He said that some states had been implementing the law since fro 1999, citing Gombe, Bauchi, Katsina Kano Lagos, Enugu, among others as examples.
He said that initially, the law was only applied to president, vice- president, governors and the deputy governors, but was amended and included senate president, his deputy, Speaker of House of representatives, as well as speakers of states and their deputies.
He debunks the conception of some people that the law came late when the legislature lost their elections, saying that it was passed into law because of its importance.
He pointed out that some approved 300 percent , while in Jigawa state, due to its lean economic power, they approved only 100 percent of the monthly salaries and allowances of the beneficiaries.