Kwara Govt Denied Paying Saraki Salaries For Four Years After He Stepped Aside As Gov

The Kwara State Government has denied paying salaries to Bukola Saraki, senate president, for four years after he stepped aside as governor of the state.

Reacting to the claim of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the former governor was receiving salaries from the state after he left office, Isiaka Gold, secretary to the Kwara state government, said Saraki’s last salary was N291,474.00 for the month of May 2011.

He said that since May 2011 when he left office as governor, Saraki had only been receiving pension – not salary.

“From June 2011, former Governor Saraki started receiving his pension, which was N578,188.00 as other past governors in the country,” Gold said in a statement.

The statement added that after the review of pensions of former political office holders by the state pension board, the former governor’s pension increased to N1,239,493.94 monthly from October 2014 to date.

“Kwara State Government, therefore, dismisses as false and misleading, the allegation that former Governor Saraki was receiving salaries after the expiration of his two-term tenure as governor of the state,” the statement read.

“Interested stakeholders should seek clarification from appropriate authority to avoid misleading the public.”