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In clear disregard of constitutional provisions, at least 31 governors are yet to concede financial autonomy to the legislative arm of government in their states.• Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Benue, nine others have partial autonomyIn clear disregard of constitutional provisions, at least 31 governors are yet to concede financial autonomy to the legislative arm of government in their states.
Recall that last week, members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria in about 20 states nationwide began a nationwide industrial action following the expiration of the ultimatum for the implementation of financial autonomy by state Assemblies in the country. Oluwajuyigbe said: “There is a provision in the 1999 Constitution as amended in Section 121, which grants financial independence to the legislature. All we are clamouring for is that the government should implement this provision of the constitution.
“The Constitution didn’t say you should do it partially, it has granted autonomy to the state legislature under Section 121. It says the entire fund meant for the state legislature and the Judiciary should be transferred to their accounts. It didn’t say you transfer only the overhead or personnel costs or the capital, it says all the funds,” Mohammed said.
A source said: “In 2017, the Eighth National Assembly had passed alterations of the constitution giving financial autonomy to State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciary. Under the alteration, the amounts standing to the credit of State Houses of Assembly and the Judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the said bodies, respectively.”
A source told The Guardian that “to resolve the crisis, stakeholders such as NGF, Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Presidential Committee on the Implementation of Financial Autonomy, Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Office of the Minister of Labour and Productivity and others got together to chat the way forward.
Reacting to the development, a lawmaker who did not want his name mentioned for fear of victimisation, disclosed that some state assemblies still depend on their governors to fuel generators that they use during plenary sessions. He disclosed that one of the factors that would ensure financial autonomy is functional ‘Assembly Service Commission Law 2004’ and ‘Fund Management Law’, which the state already has in place.
He disclosed that the current assembly met a pact already negotiated by the last Assembly, whereby instead of financial autonomy, the former governor, Samuel Ortom, made an upward review of the overhead accruable to the House. PASAN chairman in Kano State Bashir Yahaya, regretted that the state Assembly is still dependent on the executive arm for both recurrent and capital expenditure.
The duo in a separate interview with The Guardian, urged the governors to have a rethink and do what is needful as provided for in the Nigerian Constitution, saying that the legislative arm is too critical to undermine. “What we need to do is to further educate the governors about the need to obey the spirit and letters of the constitution. It is in their own interest in the long run to allow the second arm of government to be truly independent, so that they can make good laws and do check and balance to the arbitrariness of the Executive arm. In the final analysis, if the Houses of Assembly are truly independent, our society will be better governed,” he said.
“I think this is sheer oppression of the two arms of government. What is happening is not good for democracy. It will interest you to know that President Muhammadu Buhari even signed Executive Order 10, but the governors frustrated it. There is nothing that has not been done to ensure that state Assemblies are truly independent.
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