The Rivers State House of Assembly member representing Eleme Constituency and the House committee Chairman on Finance, Hon. Josiah Olu, has urged the people of the state to hold faith in this present Assembly members.
Hon. Olu made the remark in his office when charting with journalists over the weekend.
The House Committee Chairman on finance advised the people of the state to keep faith with the law makers as they will never do anything that will put the state into jeopardy as posterity would judge them.
The Assembly member representing Eleme Constituency explained the position of the House on the issue of the pension law, saying that they owe a duty to the state to explain every action of the assembly.
It could be recalled that the pension amendment bill signed into law among other fire laws by the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, raised dust from the opposition, hence the need to inform the people so that they would not be misinformed by few opposition members.
He said the opposition’s stock in trade is to criticize whatever this present administration is doing without any justification.
Hon. Olu told journalists that before the amendment was made, the House of Assembly published a full page in the HardTruth, a Port Harcourt based tabloid that belonged to one of the opposition, 15th 19th March, 2012, an advertorial that was paid for the public hearing on the said bill, but regretted that the publisher denied knowledge of such publication in his paper and the date of the public hearing.
He cleared the misconception in many quarters that past governors and/or deputies beneficiaries will be given 2 houses, one in Abuja and one in Port Harcourt, saying that it was the imagination of the few opposition members.
On the issue of number of police men to be given to the ex-governors and their deputy, he said the recommendation of the law signed recently said two policemen for the governor’s house, two policemen on escort and two policemen attached to the deputy.
Answering questions on governor’s who have houses all over the country, the lawmaker said, “This is a constitutional matter and the constitution should be respected regardless of what the person is.”
Buttressing his point further, the Eleme-born politician said section 124 subsection 5 of the constitution as amended empowered the assembly members to make pension and gratuities for the governor and deputy.
He asked whether they should monetize it as it is done in Gombe State or buy bulletproof cars as they did in Lagos state, and answered that they would buy ordinary cars considering the tax payer’s money. ###
Pius Dukor/Mene Gbarabe
