STATE governors on Friday took their case on Executive Order 10
which guarantees financial autonomy for the judiciary and the
legislature at the state level directly to President Muhammadu
Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), TheNation reports[1]
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode
Fayemi, met separately with the President and the minister to press
home the objection of the state chief executives to the order,
which was signed by Buhari penultimate Friday.
To the governors, the order is not only unnecessary; it is also
an over-kill of Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
They have a supporter in the immediate past Senate Deputy
President Ike Ekweremadu, who said that while the intent of the
President in signing the order might be good, the action was
unnecessary and unconstitutional.
Ekweremadu said that the President should have stopped only at
signing the bill on the financial autonomy as passed by the 8th
National Assembly.
The governors, during a virtual meeting earlier in the week,
mandated Fayemi to pass their views on the order to the appropriate
quarters.
It was gathered that Fayemi met with the President and Malami on
Thursday, accordingly.
A North-Central governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “We
mandated the NGF chairman, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to have audience with
the President and Malami to avoid a recourse to legal tussle on the
interpretation of Section 121 (3) of the 1999 Constitution.
“We prefer dialogue to confrontation because we consider
Executive Order 19 as unnecessary and an over-kill of the existing
constitutional provision. You can see that in the last few days,
AGF Malami has been trying to justify EO 10.
“And the NGF chairman on Thursday had closed door sessions with
the President, where all the defects in EO 10 were spelt out.
“In another meeting with Malami on Thursday, the two parties
agreed that some of the autonomy modalities were constitutionally
flawed. The session reviewed the reservations of the governors.
“There will be a follow up with the AGF and Minister of Justice
by the NGF Legal Committee comprising the governors of Sokoto,
Plateau and Ondo states.”
Another governor said: “For a federating nation, there are so
many extraneous clauses in EO 10 which are in conflict with the
1999 Constitution. For instance, Section 7 7(a) of the order made
provision for a Presidential Implementation Committee to ensure
compliance.
“For instance, in some states, there is already Appropriation
Law for the State Legislature and the Judiciary. Of what use is
this E0 10 then?
“In most states, we have a Joint Account Allocation Committee.
Are we saying that EO 10 is superior to a state’s law enacted by
the House of Assembly?
“Instead of rushing to issue EO 10, the appropriate thing for
the Federal Government is to sit down with the governors and agree
on autonomy modalities in line with Section 121(3) of the
constitution.”
Sources said there is anxiety among the governors that the
Federal Government may withhold the allocations of states that do
not implement autonomy for its legislature and judiciary.
A North-West governor said: “”It is also wrong to ask the
Accountant-General of the Federation in 7(b) of EO 10 to “take
appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the provisions of this
Order. This is like giving a sword to the Accountant-General of the
Federation to kill.
“We may witness a repeat of the era of the administration of
ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo when Lagos State’s statutory
allocations were seized for no just cause.
“All the governors are not happy that the Minister of Justice
and the Accountant-General of the Federation can determine the fate
of a state based on EO 10.”
The Executive Order 10 reads in part: “WHEREAS a Presidential
Implementation Committee was constituted to fashion out strategies
and modalities for the implementation of financial autonomy for the
State Legislature and State Judiciary in compliance with section
121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999
(as Amended); taking into considerations all other applicable laws,
instruments, conventions and regulations, which provides for
financial autonomy at the state tier of government;
“WHEREAS implementation of financial autonomy of the State
Legislature and State Judiciary will strengthen the institutions at
the State tier of Government and make them more independent and
accountable in line with the tenets of democracy as enshrined by
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as
Amended); and
“By the power vested in me as the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria under Section 5 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended), which extends to the
execution and maintenance of the Constitution, laws made by the
National Assembly (including but not limited to Section 121(3) of
the 1999 Constitution (as Amended), which guarantee financial
autonomy of the State Legislature and State Judiciary.
“Now, therefore, I, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, in exercise of the power conferred on me, do
hereby orders as follows:
“Without prejudice to any other applicable laws, legislations
and conventions at the State tier of Government, which also
provides for financial autonomy of State Legislature and State
Judiciary, allocation of appropriated funds to the State
Legislature and State Judiciary in the State appropriation laws in
the annual budget of the State, shall be a charge upon the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State, as a First Line Charge.
“The Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this Order
and such any other Orders, Regulations or Guidelines as may be
issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, authorize the deduction from source in the course of
Federation Accounts Allocation from the money allocated to any
State of the Federation that fails to release allocation meant for
the State Legislature and State Judiciary in line with the
financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).
“Subject to section 8(1) of this Order, implementation of the
provisions of this Order shall be carried out by the Presidential
Implementation Committee in accordance with its
recommendations.
(b) To the extent as may be permitted by law, the
Accountant-General of the Federation shall take appropriate steps
to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Order and
implementation of the recommendations of the Committee, as may from
time to time be made.
(c) This Order shall be implemented consistently with States
applicable laws that guarantee financial autonomy of State
Legislature and State Judiciary and subject to the availability of
funds.
Defending EO 10 however, Malami said it was designed to force
constitutional compliance with Section 121(3) of 1999
Constitution.
He spoke on Thursday at the Radio Nigeria programme “Politics
Nationwide”.
In a statement through his Special Assistant on Media, Dr. Umaru
Jibrilu Gwandu, the Minister said “Executive Order No. 10 is meant
to bring about the constitutionality associated with the autonomy
of the state legislature and judiciary.
He said the order was also “intended to achieve supervisory role
by assigning responsibilities and ensuring proper supervision
desired for the purpose of enforcement and application of autonomy
constitutionally granted states legislature and judiciary as
contained in Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
He said: “The Executive Order is therefore a necessary tool for
the purpose of bringing into effect such autonomy by way of
assigning certain responsibilities, both institutional and
otherwise necessary for the purpose of enforcing the autonomy.
“By way of example, therefore, if the Federal Government wants
to withhold the resources of a State Government that refuses to
comply with the constitutional provision relating to the autonomy
of State Legislatures and Judiciary, then the Federal Government
may require the services of the Office of the Accountant-General of
the Federation”.
“Similarly, if the government wants the state legislature to be
part of the process relating to appropriation, for example,
agreement must be reached on the need for the state legislature to
be alive to their responsibility.”
STATE governors on Friday took their case on Executive Order 10
which guarantees financial autonomy for the judiciary and the
legislature at the state level directly to President Muhammadu
Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), TheNation reports[1]
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode
Fayemi, met separately with the President and the minister to press
home the objection of the state chief executives to the order,
which was signed by Buhari penultimate Friday.
To the governors, the order is not only unnecessary; it is also
an over-kill of Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
They have a supporter in the immediate past Senate Deputy
President Ike Ekweremadu, who said that while the intent of the
President in signing the order might be good, the action was
unnecessary and unconstitutional.
Ekweremadu said that the President should have stopped only at
signing the bill on the financial autonomy as passed by the 8th
National Assembly.
The governors, during a virtual meeting earlier in the week,
mandated Fayemi to pass their views on the order to the appropriate
quarters.
It was gathered that Fayemi met with the President and Malami on
Thursday, accordingly.
A North-Central governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “We
mandated the NGF chairman, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to have audience with
the President and Malami to avoid a recourse to legal tussle on the
interpretation of Section 121 (3) of the 1999 Constitution.
“We prefer dialogue to confrontation because we consider
Executive Order 19 as unnecessary and an over-kill of the existing
constitutional provision. You can see that in the last few days,
AGF Malami has been trying to justify EO 10.
“And the NGF chairman on Thursday had closed door sessions with
the President, where all the defects in EO 10 were spelt out.
“In another meeting with Malami on Thursday, the two parties
agreed that some of the autonomy modalities were constitutionally
flawed. The session reviewed the reservations of the governors.
“There will be a follow up with the AGF and Minister of Justice
by the NGF Legal Committee comprising the governors of Sokoto,
Plateau and Ondo states.”
Another governor said: “For a federating nation, there are so
many extraneous clauses in EO 10 which are in conflict with the
1999 Constitution. For instance, Section 7 7(a) of the order made
provision for a Presidential Implementation Committee to ensure
compliance.
“For instance, in some states, there is already Appropriation
Law for the State Legislature and the Judiciary. Of what use is
this E0 10 then?
“In most states, we have a Joint Account Allocation Committee.
Are we saying that EO 10 is superior to a state’s law enacted by
the House of Assembly?
“Instead of rushing to issue EO 10, the appropriate thing for
the Federal Government is to sit down with the governors and agree
on autonomy modalities in line with Section 121(3) of the
constitution.”
Sources said there is anxiety among the governors that the
Federal Government may withhold the allocations of states that do
not implement autonomy for its legislature and judiciary.
A North-West governor said: “”It is also wrong to ask the
Accountant-General of the Federation in 7(b) of EO 10 to “take
appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the provisions of this
Order. This is like giving a sword to the Accountant-General of the
Federation to kill.
“We may witness a repeat of the era of the administration of
ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo when Lagos State’s statutory
allocations were seized for no just cause.
“All the governors are not happy that the Minister of Justice
and the Accountant-General of the Federation can determine the fate
of a state based on EO 10.”
The Executive Order 10 reads in part: “WHEREAS a Presidential
Implementation Committee was constituted to fashion out strategies
and modalities for the implementation of financial autonomy for the
State Legislature and State Judiciary in compliance with section
121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999
(as Amended); taking into considerations all other applicable laws,
instruments, conventions and regulations, which provides for
financial autonomy at the state tier of government;
“WHEREAS implementation of financial autonomy of the State
Legislature and State Judiciary will strengthen the institutions at
the State tier of Government and make them more independent and
accountable in line with the tenets of democracy as enshrined by
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as
Amended); and
“By the power vested in me as the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria under Section 5 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended), which extends to the
execution and maintenance of the Constitution, laws made by the
National Assembly (including but not limited to Section 121(3) of
the 1999 Constitution (as Amended), which guarantee financial
autonomy of the State Legislature and State Judiciary.
“Now, therefore, I, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, in exercise of the power conferred on me, do
hereby orders as follows:
“Without prejudice to any other applicable laws, legislations
and conventions at the State tier of Government, which also
provides for financial autonomy of State Legislature and State
Judiciary, allocation of appropriated funds to the State
Legislature and State Judiciary in the State appropriation laws in
the annual budget of the State, shall be a charge upon the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State, as a First Line Charge.
“The Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this Order
and such any other Orders, Regulations or Guidelines as may be
issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, authorize the deduction from source in the course of
Federation Accounts Allocation from the money allocated to any
State of the Federation that fails to release allocation meant for
the State Legislature and State Judiciary in line with the
financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).
“Subject to section 8(1) of this Order, implementation of the
provisions of this Order shall be carried out by the Presidential
Implementation Committee in accordance with its
recommendations.
(b) To the extent as may be permitted by law, the
Accountant-General of the Federation shall take appropriate steps
to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Order and
implementation of the recommendations of the Committee, as may from
time to time be made.
(c) This Order shall be implemented consistently with States
applicable laws that guarantee financial autonomy of State
Legislature and State Judiciary and subject to the availability of
funds.
Defending EO 10 however, Malami said it was designed to force
constitutional compliance with Section 121(3) of 1999
Constitution.
He spoke on Thursday at the Radio Nigeria programme “Politics
Nationwide”.
In a statement through his Special Assistant on Media, Dr. Umaru
Jibrilu Gwandu, the Minister said “Executive Order No. 10 is meant
to bring about the constitutionality associated with the autonomy
of the state legislature and judiciary.
He said the order was also “intended to achieve supervisory role
by assigning responsibilities and ensuring proper supervision
desired for the purpose of enforcement and application of autonomy
constitutionally granted states legislature and judiciary as
contained in Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
He said: “The Executive Order is therefore a necessary tool for
the purpose of bringing into effect such autonomy by way of
assigning certain responsibilities, both institutional and
otherwise necessary for the purpose of enforcing the autonomy.
“By way of example, therefore, if the Federal Government wants
to withhold the resources of a State Government that refuses to
comply with the constitutional provision relating to the autonomy
of State Legislatures and Judiciary, then the Federal Government
may require the services of the Office of the Accountant-General of
the Federation”.
“Similarly, if the government wants the state legislature to be
part of the process relating to appropriation, for example,
agreement must be reached on the need for the state legislature to
be alive to their responsibility.”