The Conference of
Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria on Thursday, November 21 met with
President Muhammadu Buhari, armed with some demands, which, according to its
chairman and Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Mudashiru
Obasa, would help with the growth of the country.
The demands, Obasa
noted, are a part of what may be regarded as ‘issues of national importance’.
Obasa, who spoke on
behalf of his colleagues, first counted Buhari’s gains as president of the
country, first of which was his doggedness in the fight against corruption.
To the speakers,
Buhari’s courage was partly what resulted in the passage of and assent to the
fourth alteration to the 1999 constitution (as amended) which, among others,
grants financial autonomy to both state legislatures and the judiciary.
These demands include
an executive order on financial autonomy to state legislatures, judiciary;
devolution of powers from the federal government to states; periodic engagement
with Buhari.
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Regarding the executive
order on financial autonomy to state legislatures, judiciary Obasa noted that
many Houses of Assembly in Nigeria and state judiciary have continued to suffer
the challenge of relying on the executive arm for funding even when they are
acclaimed independent arms of government. This may have hampered their successes
in most cases.
The Lagos Speaker urged
Buhari to rely on the constitutionally guaranteed power for an executive order
for effective implementation of the act which the president recently signed
granting financial autonomy to the state legislatures and judiciary.
To this end, the
speakers demanded that the executive order should be such that would mandate
the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct allocations for the state
legislatures and judiciary from source for any state that errs in releasing the
budget of state legislatures and judiciary to them.
On the devolution of
powers from the federal government to states, the speakers, through Obasa,
noted that the federal government needed to shed some of its weight by
devolving power to the states by reducing some items in the ‘exclusive list’ to
the concurrent list. The speakers listed some of these items to be railway,
police and such as may be expanded to states.
“Similarly, while we
appreciate many landmark policies introduced by this administration in the
health sector, we want to appeal to Your Excellency to charge the relevant
ministries and agencies with a view to ensuring better access to essential
health facilities and medicare by the masses at the grassroots,” the speakers
said.
On the issue of
periodic engagement with Buhari, the speakers want President Muhammadu Buhari
to create a time from his busy schedule to relate with them, understand their
challenges and progress and share ideas with them.
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