Forum of Bayelsa ex-legislators demands inclusion in State pension scheme

CHINEDU WOSU YENAGOA

Former members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly on Thursday demanded to be included in the pension scheme being enjoyed by past Governors and Deputy Governors in the state.

Acting chairman of the Forum and chairman of the State Environmental Sanitation Authority, Chief Robert Ayalla Enogha made the demand at the special sitting of the Assembly attended by current and former Members of the Assembly, including those who were lawmakers in the old Rivers State.

Former Governor Timipre Sylva who served as a lawmaker in the old Rivers State House of Assembly and the pioneer Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and Minister for State for Agriculture, Hon. Heineken Lokpobiri were absent from the parley.

Enogha said that since it was the Assembly that passed the law making former governors and their deputies’ beneficiaries of pension after serving the state, it was wrong to treat the former lawmakers as “casual workers” without any benefit after contributing their own quota to the development of the state.

The ex lawmaker urged the Speaker and members of the House to do the needful and enact a legislation that would accommodate former lawmakers in the state pension scheme.

This, he said, would help the former lawmakers repackage their lives, and forge ahead with their daily activities without much difficulty.
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The special session which also marked the end of the second session of the Sixth Assembly had the theme, “Impact of the Legislature on Development, Bayelsa State in Retrospect.”

The session, which also featured speeches from present and past members of the legislature, reflected on the theme of the session.

Among those who made contributions during the parley were Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, currently the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Tonye Isenah, currently representing Kolokuma/Opokuma 1, Daniel Igali, Southern Ijaw 111 and Chief TKO Okorotie, former member, old Rivers State Assembly.

Other contributors include, Fine man Wilson, Political Adviser to Gov. Seriake Dickson, Hon. Talford Ongolo, Chief of Staff to Gov. Dickson, Hon. CJ Ayabowei and Monday Bolou Obor, among others. They, in unison, acknowledged the role of the legislature in a Democracy, saying the arm has particularly impacted very tremendously
on the development of Bayelsa State.

They, however, urged the current House to improve on their oversight function as well as engage their constituents more regularly to get their inputs in lawmaking.

High point of the session was the defection of the member representing Ogbia Constituency 2, Hon. Gibson Monaleyefa from Labour Party to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, bringing the PDP members in the House to 21 out of the 24 member-house.