Financial autonomy: Governors say executive order 10 can't stand

Financial autonomy: Governors say executive order 10 can't stand

- President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Kayode Fayemi-led NGF may soon be at loggerhead over the executive order 10 pronouncement

- The order, which was announced by the president on Friday, May 22, granted financial autonomy to state assemblies and judiciary

- Governors have now met President Buhari and attorney general of the federation Abubakar Malami over the interpretation of the order

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In what is apparently indicative a counter-move, governors have raised dust against the executive order 10 granting financial autonomy to the state legislatures and the judiciary.

According to a report contained in The Nation, the governors, who met under the aegis of Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), rejected the president's order and described it as an unnecessary distraction.

Legit.ng recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari granted the autonomy on Friday, May 22, which mandated the state governor to always include the allocations of the legislature and the judiciary in the first-line charge of their budgets.

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Mudasiru Obasa, Lagos speaker, who is also the chairman of the conference of state speakers in Nigeria, described the pronouncement as the best Sallah gift from the president.

Governors have now objected to the decision, describing it as an unnecessary move which is against section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

The chairman of the governors' forum, Governor Kayode John Fayemi of Ekiti state, reportedly took the order to the President Buhari and the attorney-general of the federation, Abubakar Malami.

Financial autonomy: Governors say executive order 10 will not stand
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigeria Governors' Forum may soon be at loggerhead over the executive order 10 pronouncement.
Source: Twitter

Fayemi was said to have met in separate meetings with President Buhari and Malami who doubles as the Minister of Justice on Thursday, May 28, in Abuja.

“We mandated the NGF chairman, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to have audience with the President and Malami to avoid recourse to legal tussle on the interpretation of Section 121 (3) of the 1999 Constitution," a governor from the north-central region said.

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“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."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the appointment of Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal (PCA).

The extension takes effect from June 3 for a further period of three months. The president’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja on Friday, May 29.

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Authors:
Rahaman Abiola avatar

Rahaman Abiola (Editor-in-Chief) Rahaman Abiola is an award-winning journalist and Editor-in-Chief with over 8-year experience. He holds a degree in English & Literature from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria (2015). He's a recipient of the Mile Media Award, Kwame Karikari Fellowship. His works have appeared in Punch, The Nation, Tribune, The Cable, Sahara Reporters and others. rahaman.abiola@corp.legit.ng