The immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari has written his successor, Bello Matawalle demanding payment of his outstanding monthly allowance and pension to the tune of N10m.
In a letter dated October 17, 2019, addressed to Gov. Matawalle, Yari pointed out that he was by law entitled to N10 million monthly as upkeep allowance, but that he had only been paid twice since he left the office.
He noted that it was not within the powers of the governor to “truncate” that privilege without any justifiable reason.
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,” he said.
“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 been 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.
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“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.
“While thanking you most sincerely for the anticipated positive action, please accept my high regards and esteem.”
The relationship between the incumbent governor and his predecessor has been sour in recent times.
Recall that Matawalle had alleged that Yari had a hand in the recent killings in the state as there was always a security breach whenever he visited the state.
He vowed to have Yari arrested if such trend continued.
