Breaking: Sanwo-Olu To Abolish Pension For Ex-Govs, Deputies | AgegePulse Magazine

Lagos State Government has concluded plans to abolish the Public Office Holder Payment of Pension Law which prescribes pension for former Governors and Deputy Governors in the State.

The Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated this on Tuesday during the presentation of Y2021 Budget Estimates to Lagos State House of Assembly.

According to the Governor, an Executive Bill to repeal the law will soon be forwarded to the lawmakers for consideration and passage.

"Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, in light of keeping the costs of governance low and to signal selflessness in public service, we will be sending a draft executive bill to the House imminently for the repeal of the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension and other entitlements to former Governors and their Deputies," Sanwo-Olu said.

LASG’s workers to get gratuity 3 months after retirement

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The Lagos State Government is to introduce an efficient pension scheme for its workforce , an official said on Sunday.

Under the new regime , retirees will be paid their gratuity ( lump sum) within three months after retirement .

The Director -General , Lagos State Pension Commission ( LASPEC) , Mrs Folashade Onanuga , told the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) that the administration would soon unveil the new regime.

“Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode is working towards a three -month gratuity collection regime.

“Our amiable governor is working towards a regime that all pensioners will be able to access their gratuities within three months after retirement , ” she said.a

Onanuga also said that the governor was committed to the welfare of retirees as he had cleared the backlog of pensions.

She said : “Gov. Ambode is fully committed to retirees ’ welfare as he is working towards clearing pension backlog the administration inherited under the old pension scheme known as Defined Benefit Scheme ( DBS ) before the Contributory Pension Scheme ( CPS ) was introduced in 2004.

“He has cleared the pension backlog up till 2015."*

About N37 billion has been released by Gov. Ambode for 9 , 045 retirees since he assumed office.

The director-general , however , has advised retiring workers in the employ of the state government to study the two options available to them at retirement carefully before taking decisions .

According to her , the two options are Programmed Withdrawal and Annuity.

“The retirement options should be studied carefully before signing any deal with Pension Fund Administrators ( PFAs) .’’

AOnanuga , who described some PFAs as hookwinkers, said they had been deceiving retiring employees into taking wrong decision for their own selfish reasons.

“There are still pension ` fraudsters ’ parading themselves as PFAs and the Lagos State Government will put concrete measures in place to ensure that its retirees do not fall victims.

“It is important to note that pension fraudsters are still out there , retirees must be vigilant and courageous not to sign negative deals ; be wise , ’’ Onanuga warned.

According to her , the commission in order to guide prospective retirees in the state public service between July and December also held a seminar on retirement benefits and documentation on June 8.

“The commission ensured that the 1 , 200 workers slated for retirement between July and December participated."

Onanuga emphasised that it was the responsibility of the prospective retirees to study and master the features.

She said, for instance, a retiring employee ought to have signed up a PFA and his or her monthly contributions remitted into his or her Retirement Saving Account ( RSA).

“Lagos State Government approved 13 PFAs for its workers , among them are AIICO Pension Managers , ARM Pensions, Leadway Pensure PFA and Nigerian Life and Provident Company ( NLPC )

NAN

LASG tasks staff on sound policy formulation, implementation

Lagos State Government has tasked its workforce to come up with suggestions on how to formulate and execute government policies that would address challenges confronting majority of the populace.

The State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson-Oke gave the charge today at the opening session of a workshop tagged: Policy Analysis Development and Implementation, organised by the State Government for Policy Analysts in Lagos Public Service at Ikeja.

He maintained that those involved in government policy process need to possess strong analytical skills and ability to apply a variety of research and evaluation methods within a complex political and economic environment.

The Commissioner said that the training will review the analytical approaches that are essential for effective policy development in modern times.

The training will cover the nature and role of policy analysts and the interaction among social institutions, markets and government. It will examine how to conduct effective policy analysis, manage the policy development process, and produce sound and persuasive policy reports and recommendation to the government, he said.

He informed that policy-making and implementation functions in governance are important because governments are repeatedly confronted with problems that call for apt and appropriate solutions.

Benson-Oke added that challenges of governance in recent time have taken complex features and as such a government of metropolitan state like Lagos must have a pool of skilled, trained and current policy analysts and developers who will assist the government in designing the right, appropriate and sustainable answers to complex and urgent problems.

The Commissioner said that the present administration is taking up challenges to aspire to the highest standards of governance and administration that the citizens expect of the government.

He maintained that all the achievements of the Ambode-led administration since inception is hinged on the quality of reforms and policies enunciated by the government policy makers, adding that there is little or nothing that could be achieved by any government without a robust policy-making process.

He, therefore, urged participants to embrace the capacity development initiative and open their minds to new ideas that might emanate in the course of the training.


I exhort public policy analysts and developers in the Lagos State Public Service to learn to focus quickly on the central decision criterion of a problem requiring attention, avoid the Tool-box Approach to analysing policies and also learn how to deal with uncertainty, Benson-Oke reiterated.