Executive order 10 can't stand, Governors tell Buhari - THE BUSINESS PACKAGE

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Saturday, May 30, 2020

Executive order 10 can't stand, Governors tell Buhari




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).

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:

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