•As C’ttee accuses Govs of manipulating State lawmakers
By Christiana Ekpa, Ikechukwu Okaforadi and Musa Baba Adamu
The National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly have set the stage for a showdown over contentious national issues of state police and local government autonomy.
Indication that both national and state parliaments are on war path emerged yesterday when the chairman of the National Assembly joint Constitution amendment Committee, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who doubles as Deputy Senate President, told journàlists that the 25 State Houses of Assembly have vowed never to pass the forty four items transmitted to them by the National Assembly unless state police is included in the items.
Recall that both Senate and House of Representatives had during the consideration of the Constitution Amendment report submitted to it, rejected State Police, hence the State lawmakers are demanding that it should be reconsidered and included.
The Committee equally accused Governors of those 25 States of manipulating the State Assemblies Speakers and other members.
The Chairman of the Constitution Committee (Senate) Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Deputy President of the Senate Deputy and Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives Co-Chairman disclosed these while briefing Newsmen at the National Assembly yesterday.
Omo-Agege said that out of 36 only Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun States have successfully considered, voted on, and forwarded their resolutions on the 44 bills to the National Assembly.
According to him “Now, let us give you a sense of where we are with the Bills as of today. Six months after the transmission of these Bills to State Assemblies, it is most disheartening to inform you that only 11 State Houses of Assembly have demonstrated their independence and loyalty to the . Constitution regarding the 44 bills. 25 State Houses of Assembly have yet to consider and vote on these bills. So far, only Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun States have successfully considered, voted on, and forwarded their resolutions on the 44 bills to the National Assembly.
“Furthermore, after several meetings and engagements with the State Houses of Assembly, the Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives recommended 66 Constitution Alteration Bills for passage. We considered that those 66 bills have a considerable level of national consensus as garnered from public consultations. Out of the 66 Bills, 44 were approved by the Senate and House of Representatives. Subsequently, the 44 Bills were transmitted to the 36 State House of Assembly on 29th March 2022 for approval in line with Section 9(2) stipulations of the Constitution.
“Although the Conference of Speakers did not allude to it in their letter, we are aware of the undue interference with legislative processes and the political capture of some State Houses of Assembly by some State Governors. No doubt, some State Governors have worked tirelessly to turn the Conference of Speakers and some State Assemblies into political puppets, thereby undermining and delegitimizing the legislative institution at the state level. This interference has been ramped up, especially in opposition to the Bills granting financial and administrative autonomy to Local Governments.
“An independent state legislature is essential to the well-being of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy. That is why the ongoing attempt by some State Governors, with the support of some Speakers and allies in the State Houses of Assembly, to eliminate that independence should alarm all Nigerians. This posturing by the Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies should be shown for what it truly is — a total disregard for the Nigerian constitutional system.
“It remains true that each State House of Assembly is independent of the other. However, Constitution amendment Bills require the approval of twothirds (24) of the 36 States House of Assembly before they can be presented for the President’s assent. Therefore, how a State Assembly decides on each of the Bills is its prerogative. But, there must be a decision for citizens to know where each State House of Assembly stand on the issues the Bills seek to address.
“Please permit us to use this opportunity to appeal to citizens, civil society organizations, interest/professional groups and institutions to prevail on the Conference of Speakers to withdraw their threat to truncate the constitution amendment process. Instead, we should all speak up to defend our Constitution and democracy.
“Suppose we ignore this brazen attempt by some Governors to truncate a constitutional process. In that case, we will ultimately be enablers of the undermining of a critical bulwark of our democracy — which we should not be.
“While we use this medium to applaud all State Houses of Assembly that have successfully considered and approved the Constitution Alteration Bills, we also urge the remaining 25 State Houses of Assembly to keep faith with Nigerians and the Constitution they swore to uphold. May we all honour our pledge to Nigerians to build and reform by listening to the people.
“More worrisome is that while we are still expecting the receipt of the resolutions of the remaining Houses of Assembly, we received a letter from the Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies informing the National Assembly that the remaining states will not act on the 44 Bills unless the National Assembly passes four new Bills they have proposed in the letter. The Bills they propose seek to amend the Constitution to: Establish State Police;
Establish State Judicial Council; Streamline the procedure for removing Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly; and, Institutionalize Legislative Bureaucracy in the Constitution.
“We want to ensure everyone understands this: the National Assembly is in no way averse to acting on any proposed Bill or memoranda appropriately tabled before it, at any time in its life. However, it is legally inappropriate for the Conference of Speakers to use the four Bills as a quid pro quo to act on the 44 Bills the National Assembly 44 Bills transmitted. It is clear, and we cannot overstate, that this letter is not in keeping with the obligation the Constitution has placed on them regarding the Constitutional amendment.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fifth Alteration) Bill, No. 1, 2022 (Local Government Financial Autonomy). The Bill seeks to entrench financial autonomy for Local government councils: by abolishing the State Joint Local Government: Account and providing for a particular account into which shall be directly paid all allocations due to Local Government councils from the Federation Account and the internally generated revenue of the State Government. In addition, the Bill provides for the payment of teachers’ salaries to be shared between the three tiers of Government, such that the amount to be deducted from the Local Government Councils is the least”
Also Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fifth Alteration) Bill, No. 2, 2022 (Local Government Administrative Autonomy). This Bill seeks to establish Local Government Councils as a substantive tier of Government in the Constitution and guarantee their democratic existence and tenure by entrenching the fundamental governance structure of the Local Government Councils in the Constitution. It prohibits the exercise of council powers by any entity other than democratically elected council members.
