Pay my pension – Minister tells Ebonyi Governor

Onu said this in a letter he sent to the Ebonyi Governor, David Umahi, explaining why he rejected the car gift sent to him by the state government.

According to Daily Post, the minister, in a letter dated August 16, 2016, with reference number - HMST/FMST/036/Vol.IV/595, said “I regret to inform Your Excellency that I cannot accept the gift of a Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle as conveyed in the letter under reference. I do so with a deep sense of responsibility and conscious of the important need to build a better Ebonyi State where respect for the rule of law and the peoples’ will as well as the pursuit of their happiness will remain sacred.

“Rather curiously, four years later, the same House of Assembly enacted the ‘Ebonyi State Specified Offices Pensions and Related Matters (Amendement) Law 2011’ wherein a governor was defined as: a civilian governor of Ebonyi State of Nigeria.

“It is clear from the foregoing, Your Excellency, that I was the target of this scheme in an apparent design to deny me my due pension entitlements. This is especially so in the circumstance where it is the responsibility of the Ebonyi State Government to do so as a consequence of the sharing of assets and liabilities between Abia and Ebonyi states.

“You will recall that I had served as the first elected governor of Abia State, in which a part later became a constituent part of Ebonyi State.”

Adding that “Laws are not made to suit personal prejudices. Laws are made to serve the enduring attributes of good conscience, honour and equity.”

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu recently announced that a Nigerian astronaut will land in spaceon or before 2030.