Nigeria's 14 leaving governors and their deputies along with lawmakers to receive over N2bn pay-off

FOURTEEN of Nigeria's outgoing governors and their deputies along with 434 state lawmakers who will not be returning to government will be going home with a whopping pay-off of N2.06bn ($5.5m) when they leave office on May 29.

Following last month's gubernatorial elections in 29 of Nigeria's 36 states, 14 governors will not be returning to office next month due to a variety of reasons including some having served two terms and some not re-elected. Also, state houses of assembly elections held in all 36 states and here too, many lawmakers are not returning to office for a variety of reasons, which some of them elected to higher office.

Prominent among the governors not returning are Rochas Okorocha,  Abdulfatah Ahmed, Akinwunmi Ambode, Abiola Ajimobi, Ibikunle Amosun, Bindo Jibrila, Mohammed Abubakar and Kashim Shettima of Imo, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Adamawa, Bauchi and Borno states respectively.  Governor Ambode lost the nomination of his party prior to the governorship election, while governors Jibrila and Abubakar were defeated at the polls but all the others have completed the mandatory two terms.

Going by a template obtained from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, each of the governors will get a total of N6.67m as severance allowance, while each of their deputies will receive a total of N6.34m. This means that the 14 governors and their deputies will be going home with a total of N182.11m at the expiration of their tenures on May 29.

This severance allowance is, however, separate from other packages which many states have put in place as retirement benefits or pension packages for governors and deputy governors. Some of such packages include unlimited health care, houses in any locations of their choice in the state and some also have the choice of a house in the Federal Capital Territory.

Some former governors have also been known to implement some of the packages for themselves towards the end of their tenures. In addition to this, 434 state lawmakers will be going home with a total of N1.88bn as each of them is entitled to 300% of their annual basic salary as severance allowance, totalling N4.34m.

In Oyo State where 30 lawmakers will not be returning to the state house of assembly, the lawmakers are to receive a total of N130.14m. In Niger State, 27 non-returning lawmakers will receive a total of N117.12m; in Benue, 24 non-returning lawmakers will get a severance package of N104.16m, while in Ekiti State 24 non-returning lawmakers that will go home with N104.16m.

Severance allowance is paid to political office holders at the end of their tenure, which comes after other allowances which they receive while in service. These include motor fuelling allowance, furniture allowance, newspaper allowance, hardship allowance and a host of others.