Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and Oserheimen Osunbor, a former governor of Edo State, have said that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Executive Order granting financial autonomy to state legislature and judiciary to rescue them from collapse and to further deepen the nation’s democracy.
Buhari had recently signed into law an Executive Order to grant financial autonomy to the legislature and the judiciary at the state level. The Order empowered the accountant-general of the federation to deduct funds for the state legislature and the judiciary from the federal allocations to the states.
But the President’s action has been fiercely criticised and opposed by many governors across the country. Last week, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) asked President Buhari to allow its members work out their own modalities on financial autonomy for the judiciary and legislature at the state level.
But speaking in a television programme Wednesday, Malami faulted those opposed to the President’s decision, saying that he was only exercising his constitutional powers.
Malami said Executive Order was not new and was often exercised by leaders in developed nations, stressing that governors should rather collaborate with him to enforce the constitution, which would promote legislature, judiciary autonomy and deepen the nation’s democracy.
According to him, “The President has executive powers in Section 5 to implement and execute Section 121 of the constitution; it is the responsibility of the President. The constitution guarantees the autonomy of the state legislature and judiciary and it is the responsibility of the President to make sure this is recognised.”
“The powers to execute the constitution are with the President; perhaps it calls for collaboration. It is the responsibility of both to see the enforcement of the constitution and not mortgage or undermine it. So, the governors do not have the powers to undermine but to collaborate with the President to enforce that section of the constitution rather than oppose him,” Malami said.
Oserheimen Osunbor, in his observation, said the Executive Order was constitutional and would help in deepening the nation’s democracy, wondering why the governors are opposed to the Executive Order when some of them are signing it into law their states.
The professor of Law bemoaned the state of the two arms of government, saying that the current practice could not be allowed to continue.
“I find it hard to know that the governors do not want this; I don’t support this; the clamouring against this Executive Order, I don’t think this would succeed, because the forces that want these changes are more than those oppose to it and it is consistent with good democracy.
“It is good for the deepening of democracy and so, I believe it is something that is useful that would come to stay because some governors have not allowed this provision that gives autonomy to the legislature and judiciary to work,” Osunbor said.
“The governors have a lot in their hands to execute projects; so, I don’t see why they should be in opposition to releasing for other arms of government; if they have not been doing it before they should know it helps,” he added.
