APC Chairman Defends Embattled Senate President Saraki

The chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Ishola Balogun- Fulani, has faulted the allegation that the Senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was drawing salaries from the state government after the expiration of his tenure in 2011 as the state governor.

Addressing newsmen in Ilorin yesterday, Balogun-Fulani said Saraki was only drawing his constitutionally approved pension.

The APC chairman said as the majority leader of the sixth legislature in the state, he anchored the bill on the approval of pension and gratuity for former governors and their deputies in the state.

He said the bill went through legislative debate and public hearing before it was passed into law

He said the initiation and eventual passage of the bill followed the recommendation of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) on pension and gratuity for former governors and their deputies.

“The payment of these entitlements is not peculiar to Kwara State, it is applicable to other states of the federation.

“In most states, both the former governors and their deputies are enjoying the retirement pension and gratuity as applicable to Saraki and his deputy in Kwara State,” he said.