Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has denied signing a new law approving jumbo pay and other allowances as pensions for ex-governors of the state.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Asaba, the state capital, the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, said the pension law for ex-governors has been in place in the state since 2005.
He pointed out that the only time the House effected minor changes in the law was in 2019 when the State House of Assembly amended the law to include the late Prince Sam Obi who was acting Governor between Nov. 10, 2010, and Jan. 10, 2011.
Aniagwu challenged the purveyors of the fake news to provide the date the law was passed by the House and when it was signed by the state governor.
He said: “You are all aware that for any law passed by the State Assembly that the Governor assents to, we don’t do it in secret.
“The Assembly sits in the open and deliberates on both first, second, and third readings on any of the Bills before they are passed in the full glare of the media and members of the public.
“Before the governor assents to any bill we do invite the media to brief them as to the import of such law and all of you are aware that Okowa did not sign any new law with respect to Governor’s pension.
“We did not sign any new law. What we have is an existing law that has been there before now. But just because they just want to talk and get at us, they are pushing it on social media to make it look as if we are signing in the new law to get home with new benefits and all that.
“Let them tell you the date the law was signed, they should also tell us when the House of Assembly considered the law and what was the debate like, and they should also tell us the people present when the law was allegedly signed.
“They know the truth but they just want to tell stories that are very much at variance with realities.”
Aniagwu commended journalists in the state for their objective reporting of activities of the state government and urged them to continue extending the same hand of fellowship to the incoming administration.
He added: “Deltans believed that Sheriff Oborevwori is a man that has what it takes to do more and sustain the legacies of Okowa and that it was time to reward the PDP administration and so they voted massively for Oborevwori.
“For those who lost we have extended the olive branch to them to join us in building a much stronger Delta but instead of doing that they have started telling stories to diminish the hard-earned reputation of this administration and especially that of our governor.”
