A documentary video created by the Delta State Government to mark the State 29th anniversary has sparked a reaction from the former Governor of the State, Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the video, which highlighted the successes of the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration, listed the Governors, who have served the State since its creation on 27 August 1991.
The video captured, after former Governor James Ibori and before former Governor Uduaghan, Rt. Hon. Prince Sam Obi, who served the State as Governor in acting capacity between 10 November 2010 and 10 January 2011.
See video below (press play):
As a state, we have come a long way and we have much to be thankful for.
Happy #DeltaAt29! pic.twitter.com/SVTFLPpebF
— Delta State Government (@DSGovernment) August 27, 2020
Reacting, former Governor Uduaghan, the immediate past Governor of the State, described the video as “Delta anniversary history magic”.
“Anybody who says Gov James Onanefe Ibori handed over to his cousin is NOW A LIAR. The anniversary video has corrected that,” Uduaghan said.
TNG reports the Delta State House of Assembly in December 2019 passed the Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Rights and Other Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2019 into law, making persons who have served the State as Governors in acting capacity beneficiaries of full pension.
The bill, TNG recalls, caused rancour and heated up the polity after it was first introduced to the House, but was, however, passed at a plenary session presided over by the Speaker of the House, Sheriff Oborevwori.
The passage of the bill accommodated the former Acting Governor in the Pension law, and it followed a motion to that effect by the House Majority Leader, Hon Tim Owhefere, and seconded by the Deputy Majority Whip of the House, Hon Fred Martins.
The Governor and Deputy Governor Pension Rights and Other Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2019, which was read for the first time on 22nd of October 2019 by Tim Owhofere as the Majority Leader, was said to have been pushed by Governor Okowa.
The bill, eventually signed into law by Okowa, was criticized as crude for unnecessarily accruing so much benefits Obi, who acted as Governor in 2010 for only two months when Uduaghan’s election was annulled by the Court of Appeal.
By the passage of the bill into law, Obi is entitled to an annual salary of the incumbent Deputy Governor, and the formulae for calculation of his pension and gratuity will have 300% as final pay for gratuity while 70% as final pay for pension.
Obi, by the power of the bill, also now enjoy free medical treatment within Nigeria and abroad where necessary, subjected to the approval of the serving Governor. Taxpayers will also foot his 15 days annual vacation anywhere within Nigeria.
As former Acting Governor, Obi will also be entitled to have his luxury vehicle and back up cars changed every two years and a new house built for him anywhere he chooses in Nigeria, with a retinue of domestic staff and security personnel paid from the public purse, office with four staff paid for by the State.