Immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, has written to his successor, Bello Matawalle, dmanding to be paid his outstanding allowance and pension.
Yari’s letter
In a letter sighted on Monday and dated October 17 which was addressed to Matawalle, Yari said he was entitled to N10 million monthly as upkeep allowance, but that he has only been paid twice since he left office.
Matawalle, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was sworn in as governor after the Supreme Court nullified the processes that produced all candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state for the 2019 general elections.
The governor had threatened to arrest Yari for allegedly sponsoring banditry in the state.
Yari, in the letter, however, urged his successor not to truncate the law which was amended in March, saying it provides for the entitlement of former governors, deputies, speakers and deputy speakers.
The letter read: “I wish to humbly draw your attention to the provision of the law on the above subject matter which was amended and assented to on the 23rd of March 2019.
“The law provides, among other entitlements of the Former Governor, a monthly upkeep allowance of Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000) only and a pension equivalent to the salary he was receiving while in office.
“Accordingly, you may wish to be informed that since the expiration of my tenure on the 29th of May, 2019. I was only paid the upkeep allowance twice i.e. for the month of June and July while my pension for the month of June has not been paid.
“As the law provides, the pension and upkeep allowance are not in the category of privileges that can be truncated without any justifiable reason, hence, the need to request you to kindly direct the settlement of the total backlog of the pension and upkeep as provided by the law.”