The Kebbi State House of Assembly has passed two bills repealing State and Local Governments’ Contributory Pensions and establishing the Kebbi Information Technology Development Agency, 2025.

This development followed the consideration of a report from the House Committee on Security and General Administration, presented during the assembly’s plenary session on Thursday.

Presenting the report, the Committee Chairman, Muhammad Lolo (APC-Bagudo West), reminded members that the bill went through first and second readings and unanimously, through a voice vote, committed the same to his committee.

He stated, “This is with a view to further legislative action and to report back to the House on Thursday, September 18.’’

Considering the importance of the bill, Mr Lolo said the committee critically studied the bill, which has 39 sections and also invited relevant stakeholders for observation and input.

He said, “The stakeholders comprise officials from the state and LG Contributory Pension Board, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, as well as Pension Administrators and obtained their views on the Bill.’’

Mr Lolo added that the committee recommended that the phrase “Medical and Health Workers’ be included as new section 5 (1)(xii) in the bill.

“In section 7(c), the committee recommends that the letter “d” be deleted to the word “and” after the word “appoint” to now read ‘appoint an actuarial…”

“In section 8(2)(b) the committee recommends that the word “Khadis” be inserted in the bill after the word “Judges” to now read “… rank of High Court Judges/Khadis.” In section 11(2), the committee recommends that the alphabetical order be rearranged in the bill.

He stated, “The committee recommends that section 15(3) be created in the bill which reads: ‘All uncredited and unreconciled pension deductions held with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAS) for a period exceeding three months without successful reconciliation shall be returned to the Kebbi State Contributory Pension Board. Such funds shall remain in custody of the Board pending the registration of the beneficiaries with a PFA.’’

Mr Lolo thanked all the stakeholders who participated in the public hearing and provided both written and oral inputs to contribute to the success of the report.

Garba Bena (APC-Danko/Wasagu) presented the motion of the bill for a third reading, seconded by Faruk Aliyu-Nasarawa (APC-Jega).

The Deputy Speaker of the house, Muhammad Samaila (APC-Bagudo), who presided over the plenary session, put the motion to a voice vote, and the lawmakers unanimously adopted the amendment of the bill.

In a related development, the assembly passed a bill for a law to establish the Kebbi State Information Technology Development Agency and related matters in 2025.

This followed the consideration of a report from the House Committee on Innovation and Digital Economy.

Presenting the report, the committee chairman, Adamu Birnin-Yauri (APC-Ngaski), said the committee studied the bill and invited the stakeholders and obtained their contributions.

The executive bill was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers after the deputy speaker put the motion to a vote. 

(NAN)