Lagos lawmakers deny N52m severance pay for outgoing members

By GBENGA AKANMU

The Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday denied reports that outgoing members of the House are to be paid a severance package of N52million, while those returning are to get N40 million.

Debunking the report at a press briefing at the Assembly, the Deputy Majority Leader, Dr. Ajibayo Adeyeye, who led other members including Adewale Babatunde, now a member elect of the House of Representatives, Dayo Fafunmi, Rotimi Olowo and Mudashiru Obasa, described the story as a total falsehood.

According to him, “the story is not only malicious and false, but it lacks substance and completely from the blues.”

Adeyeye said that the pre_occupation of the members of the House is how to address the many pending bills that it has to deal with and have not had time to even discuss the issue of severance, which in any case he said is not an issue since it is something that will be determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC).

“We see this as a wrong information, I do not know what criteria they used in arriving at the figure, if anything, it may not even be up to 10 per cent of the figure being bandied around,” he said.

He also denied knowledge of any meeting between the governor and principal officers of the House where issues of severance package was discussed, “because much as I know, such issues are normally discussed at the end of every tenure, so the time is not ripe for that yet.”