Even the most powerful people in the land are left out of the pinching of recession as it has been revealed that the federal government is owing former presidents of the country 10 months allowances.
Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, General Ibrahim Babangida, Goodluck Jonathan, and others have not been paid their salaries and allowances by the federal government since January this year.
This disclosure came to light on Thursday when the members of the Senate Committee of Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs, led by Senator Tijjani Kaura, visited the office of Babachir David Lawal, Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Lawal attributed the development to lack of funds in service wide votes.
“There is a department responsible for payment of former presidents. Presently funds are not available in service wide votes to do that. We are aware there was a protest in Bayelsa State that the former president was not paid, but we’ve explained that he’s not the only one affected.
“Others affected are Inter-Religious Council, Traditional Rulers Council and so on. For some reasons, we have been writing and writing but there has been no response. And there is presently no money to pay them,” the SGF said.
“The budget for this year’s Democracy Day was N33m and we had to do it on credit; we have yet to pay. There are lots of retreats which ought to be organised but there’s no money to do any. The last time we got any release was in August,” he added.
The Senators condemned the non-payment of the former presidents, insisting that joint efforts must be made between the office of the SGF and the committee towards finding a solution to the problem which they described as unfortunate.
