FG Budgets N13.8bn for the payment of pensions to former Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Heads of State, Chiefs of General Staff, retired heads of service, o in the 2023 fiscal year.
Newsonline report that amid growing national debt and strangulating economic circumstances, a total of N13,805,814,220 has been proposed for the payment of pensions to former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, as well as Vice-Presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo, among others.
This huge pension, it was gathered will be used to also service the monthly payments, purchase of new vehicles, the building of mansions and payment of domestic workers.
Also: Full Speech: Buhari Presents N20.5tr Budget For 2023 To National Assembly
The pension payment was proposed for former Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Heads of State, Chiefs of General Staff, retired heads of service, permanent secretaries, as well as retired heads of government agencies and parastatals in the 2023 fiscal year.
Also expected to benefit from the windfall are ex-military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and General Abdusalami Abubakar, as well as former dictator and self-styled military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, and a former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (retd.).
It is, however, not clear if the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), and his deputy, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, will benefit from the largesse as they will hand over power on May 29, 2023. Buhari served as Head of State between December 31, 1983, and August 27, 1985, before he was booted out of office in a palace coup.
In the 2023 appropriation budget appropriation, which was highlighted under the service-wide vote of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National planning, it was stated that a total of N2.3bn would be for “entitlements of former presidents/heads of states and vice-presidents/chief of general staff.”
An analysis of the proposal revealed that a total of N10.5bn would serve as “benefits of retired heads of service and permanent secretaries.”
The budget also revealed that a total of N1bn would be paid as “severance benefits to retired heads of government agencies and parastatals.”
At the state level, governors and their deputies are also entitled to humongous pensions when they leave office and a number of former chief executives of the various states are known to be beneficiaries of the huge pensions.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Friday 7th October presented an N20.51 trillion 2023 appropriation bill to the joint session of the national assembly at the temporary chamber of the house of representatives.
While presenting the details, Buhari said the 2023 transition budget was designed to address critical issues and lay a solid foundation for the incoming administration.
A breakdown of the budget shows that N744.11 billion was earmarked for statutory transfers, N8.27 trillion for non-debt recurrent costs, N1.1 trillion for overhead costs, and N5.35 trillion for capital expenditure.
The president explained that the budget deficit will be financed mainly through borrowings.
He said this would include new borrowings totalling N8.80 trillion, N206.18 billion from privatisation proceeds and N1.77 trillion drawdowns on bilateral/multilateral loans secured for specific development projects/programmes.
