Can a state house of assembly enact pension law in Nigeria?

Abstract

Pension means regular payments made by the state to the disabled, widowed or by a former employer to an employee after long service or a periodical payment made especially by government, company or an employer in consideration of past services.¹ This paper seeks to review Nigerian pension laws with a view to identifying whether a state can enact a pension law to grant pension and gratuities to an ex-governor and if not what happens to the pensions so far collected by the ex-governors under the various states’ pension laws? The paper concludes that only the federal government or National Assembly can make law on pension in Nigeria, therefore the various states’ laws on pension and gratuity to Ex-Governors should be declared null and void.

Keywords: Pension and Gratuity Law, State House of Assembly, National Assembly, Legislative Powers, State Governors who are senators or ministers