The Nation Newspaper

Tag: state assemblies

  • State assemblies yet to reject LG autonomy – NULGE

    State assemblies yet to reject LG autonomy – NULGE

    State Assemblies will still vote to grant local government autonomy in the ongoing constitutional amendment, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has stated.

    It said contrary to speculations that about 26 State Houses of Assembly were yet to consider the bill sent by the National Assembly.

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara had lampooned state legislators for throwing out the local government autonomy bill when considering the constitutional amendment bills sent to them for concurrence, saying they disappointed Nigerians who elected them.

    But National President of the union, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, said only Imo and Edo Assemblies voted against the bill.

    About 26 states were yet to take a definite position on the issue of local government autonomy, while eight others have voted in favour of the bill, he stated.

    Khaleel said since most states were yet to consider the bill and take a definite stand, it will be out of place to send the wrong signals the bill has been rejected describing the issue as work in progress.

    He said what was presented to the National Assembly by the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly was the position of the state legislators on other items of the constitutional amendment, which they have all taken a position on.

    According to him: “Among the 10 states that have considered it, eight states Kwara, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Bayelsa and Ogun states voted for local government autonomy while only two;  Edo and Imo, rejected it by voting against it.”

    Khaleel, who said he had sought clarification from the Chairman, Conference of Speakers and senior officials of the National Assembly, pointed out that Rivers and Lagos states have not even worked on the Local Government Autonomy Bill while the remaining 24, who joined the other 10 states to transmit it to the National Assembly, said they have stepped the bill down for further consultation.

  • National Assembly transmits constitution amendment copies to state assemblies

    THE National Assembly has transmitted copies of proposed amendments of the 1999 Constitution to State Houses of Assembly for concurrence, it was learnt yesterday.

    Findings showed that the transmission of clean copies of the suggested constitution amendments was concluded on Monday.

    A source close to the Office of the Senate President said the transmission of copies of the amendment took some time because of “cleaning up of the copies to ensure that what you have in the Senate is also what you have from the House of Representatives”.

    The source said state assemblies are expected to turn in their resolutions to the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2018 for further legislative work before transmitting same to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

    Findings showed that state assemblies have been fully sensitised to appreciate the issues at stake and the thinking of Nigerians on all issues slated for amendment.

    Much energy has been devoted to the constitution amendment proposals, which did not scale through the hurdle of the National Assembly.

    Talks and comments have comprehensibly centered on such areas as the failure of the National Assembly to approve devolution of powers to states, removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution and 35 per cent affirmative action for women.

    The consensus is that the failure of the National Assembly to pass some critical proposals amounted to gross “insensitivity to the aspiration of greater number of Nigerians”.

    In all, the National Assembly constitution review committee formulated 33 bills, 29 passed while four were rejected.

    The four rejected critical proposals included devolution of powers to states, deletion of Land Use Act from the constitution, state creation and boundary adjustment and 35 per cent affirmative action for women.

     

     

     

  • Constitution amendment battle shifts to state assemblies

    Constitution amendment battle shifts to state assemblies

    •National Assembly transmits proposals for consideration
    •Buhari to get clean copy in December

    The 36 State Houses of Assembly will begin work on the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution any moment from now, The Nation gathered yesterday.

    They are to consider the bills already adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in respect of the amendment.

    National Assembly sources said the adopted proposals have been transmitted to houses of assembly for consideration and concurrence.

    The National Assembly Constitution Review Committee led by Senate Deputy President Ike Ekweremadu formulated 33 bills for the purpose of the constitution amendment of which   29 were adopted while four were rejected.

    The source said that with the transmission of the adopted proposals to the state houses of assembly “the battle to amend the 1999 Constitution has shifted to the states.”

    He said: “Any proposal that meets the approval of at least 24 state houses of assembly will be processed and transmitted to the President for assent.”

    The panelist who does not want his name mentioned explained that the National Assembly does not have to “vote on proposals that meet the mandatory approval of 24 state houses of assembly.”

    The fear now, he said, “is what the state houses of assembly will do with the adopted recommendations transmitted to them by the National Assembly for concurrence.”

    He said: “The fear becomes even palpable when it is recognized that state houses of assemblies are fundamentally in the pockets of the state governors. The implication is that no proposal passes without the approval and endorsement of the governors.

    “During the 2010 amendment bid for instance, state assemblies were granted autonomy by the National Assembly. The proposal was rejected by the same state assemblies the National Assembly wanted to liberate from the strangle hold of state governors. They elected to remain tied to the apron string of state governors.”

    The source said that though talking about rejected items is important, “what is even more important to the country is to mount pressure on state houses of assembly to pass all the items transmitted to them.”

    “There are many approved amendments, which are critical for restructuring and reforming the way we do business of government, and strengthening critical institutions of democracy to promote efficacy, transparency, accountability, and checks and balances.

    “For instance, if we devolve powers to the States without strengthening the state legislatures for effective checks and balances, then it will be business as usual.

    “You would also see that the authorization of expenditure before a budget is passed has been reduced from six months to three months. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federal Government has been separated from Accountant General of the Federation. Also there is financial autonomy for the Auditor General of the Federation.

    “As for local governments, the alterations are aimed at strengthening local government administration in Nigeria by guaranteeing the democratic existence, funding and tenure of local government councils.

    “Take the issue of distributive pool account as an example. We sought to alter Section 162 of the Constitution to abrogate the state joint local government accounts and empower each local government council to maintain its own special account into which all allocations due to the local government council shall be directly paid from the Federation Account and from the Government of State and also to make provisions for saving in the Federation Account before distribution to other levels of government.

    “All these will enhance accountability and war against corruption and engender development.

    “Also, the way we recruit leaders matters even more. There are approved amendments to set a time-frame for determination of pre-election matters. You know that while all elections petitions (post-election matters) have since been determined in line with the amendment of 2013, some pre-election matters still linger. Even the reform of local government for autonomy is a critical arm of restructuring.”

    Nigerians, he said, should follow the process of the constitution review to the state houses of assembly to ensure that all recommended resolutions transmitted to them are passed.

    “Going forward, constitution amendment all over the world is open ended. That a particular proposal fails to sail through does not mean it is the end of the proposal. Constitution making is work in progress all over.”

    The leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly has already pledged to deliver a clean copy of adopted resolutions to the Presidency for assent before the end of the year long before the commencement of electioneering activities for the 2019 general elections.

    The National Assembly rejected moves to devolve powers to the states, removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution, states creation/boundary adjustment, 35 per cent affirmative action for women and a recommendation to alter Section 25 of the Constitution to guarantee a married woman’s right to choose either her indigenousness by birth or by marriage for the purposes of appointment or election..

    The Senate  however adopted the followings: inclusion of former Presidents of the Senate and former Speakers of the House of Representatives  as members of the National Council of State; authorization of the president  to continue withdrawing funds from consolidated account after expiration of the annual budget has been whittled down from six to three months; financial autonomy for state assemblies; financial autonomy for local governments; guaranteed tenure for local government chairmen and councillors; as well as immunity for legislators for anything they say on the floor during Constitution amendment
    battle shifts to state assemblies ng plenary or when they hold committee briefings.

    Also adopted are: empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission to de-register any political party that fails to meet some criteria, including  failure to win at least one elected seat from councillorship to presidential after a general election; stopping the president’s power  to reject, veto or refusal to sign a bill passed by the NASS after 30 days of transmitting such to him; compelling the president to announce his cabinet within 30 days of his inauguration and attach the portfolios of ministerial nominees to their names;  compelling state governors to do same; and independent candidates for elections.

  • Agenda for 8th national, state assemblies

    Agenda for 8th national, state assemblies

    Failure of the legislative arm of government at all levels to effectively and conscientiously play the critical law-making and oversight functions has been one of the signal failings of this democratic dispensation. It has been a major reason why democracy since 1999 has not delivered the developmental dividends desired by Nigerians. An indication of the laxity with which the legislature has approached its task was the haste with which the 7th National Assembly passed 46 bills in 10 minutes, as the end of its tenure loomed. This was an indication of tardiness, lack of seriousness and unproductive use of time by an institution with a fixed tenure of four years.

    If the change for which most Nigerians voted in the last election is to become a reality, there must be a drastic change in the approach of the 8th national and state assemblies to their responsibilities. Law making is serious business in a democracy. The quality of governance is significantly a function of the worth of legislation. It is not a vocation for unprepared and unserious minds. We thus expect the 8th national and state assemblies to invest adequately in their institutional capacity to enact qualitative laws emanating both from the executive and the legislature.

    It is, of course, no secret that legislators in Nigeria rank among the most highly and obscenely paid in the world. Yet, this unjustifiable and immoral remuneration has no bearing on their productivity individually and collectively. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to describe our legislators as one of the most indolent set of Nigerians. The drain, which the sundry allowances of Nigerian legislators, particularly the scandalous constituency allowances, constitutes on national resources, has become a serious drawback on national development. It is an issue, which President Muhammadu Buhari working closely with the leadership of the National Assembly and the political parties must urgently address.

    Another monumental obstacle on the path of development in this dispensation is the unconscionable degree of corruption by public office holders. One of the reasons for this unsavoury scenario is the failure of the national and state assemblies to honestly, conscientiously and meticulously carry out their oversight responsibilities over ministries, departments and agencies. Indeed, there have been several incidents in the past where legislators were discovered to have exploited the pretext of investigating agencies under their watch to engage in stupendous self-enrichment. A key agenda of the 8th legislature must, therefore, be to urgently sanitise the oversight process and move to improve the image and moral integrity of this important arm of government.

    The incessant and dysfunctional wrangling between the National Assembly in particular and the Executive over the budgetary process has, over the years, had negative implications for economic policy and development. While such differences are not necessarily inimical to development and may even have their positive side, they can certainly be handled more efficiently and positively so that delays in budgetary implementation no more remain a permanent fixture of our economic process.

    It was also most unfortunate that the 7th National Assembly and the presidency could not agree on necessary constitutional reforms despite the humongous resources, including time and energy, expended on the process. Nigerians are unanimous that certain constitutional changes are needed to strengthen the country’s federal practice as well as improve the democratic process. Therefore, the 8th legislature must work in concert with the executive to make this a reality.

    What obtains at the national level is almost the same even with the state houses of assembly. We consider it necessary to stress that the state assemblies in particular must cease to be mere rubber stamps to imperious governors as the case in almost all states today. More authoritative, autonomous and assertive state houses of assembly will help considerably to enhance the quality of governance in Nigeria.