President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Constitution 4th Alteration Bill into law that grants financial autonomy and independence to the Houses of Assembly of the respective states and to the judiciary of the respective states.
Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang, disclosed this to State House correspondents in Abuja on Friday.
The president also asserted to three other bills which caused alterations in the constitution.
Enang said about the autonomy bill: “I just want to inform you that His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari today assented to the Constitution Fourth Alteration Bill which grants financial authonomy and independence to the Houses of Assembly of the respective states and to the Judiciary of the respective states.
“Therefore upon this signature, the amounts standing to the credit of the judiciary are to be now be paid directly to the judiciary of those states, no more through the governors and no more from the governors and then the amounts standing to the credit of the Houses of Assembly of the respective states are now to be paid directly to the Houses of Assembly of that state for the benefit of the legislators and the management of the States Houses of Assembly.
“This grants full autonomy now to the judiciary at the state level and the Houses of Assembly at the state level.”
The presidential aide also said that the president also assured to an act which has reduced the determination period of pre-election matters.
According to him, “There is another of the act which has come into force today is Constitution amended number 21 which relates to the determination of pre election matters.
“It has reduced the date and time of determining pre-election matters to ensure that pre-election matters in court do not get into the time of the elections and do not pend thereafter. The relevant sections of the Constitution had also been amended by this act, therefore amending the Constitution.”
Similarly, there was another act which has stopped successor Vice Presidents of deputy governors from seeking re-election more than once.
Enang added: “The other one is Act or Bill number 16 which is now an act and the intent of that act is to ensure that where a Vice President succeeds the president and where a deputy governor succeeds a governor, he can no more contest for that office more than once more.
“And the fact is that having taken the oath as President once, and you can only contest for once again and no more. That is the intent of this amendment.”
The other act provides the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) note time to organize bye-elections where necessary.
On this, Enang stated: “The other amendment is Bill number 9 now an act which gives the Independent National Electoral Commission sufficient time to conduct bye elections.
“It has increased the number from seven to 21 days and generally widened the latitude of the Independent National Electoral Commission to handle election matters upon vacancy occuring.
“Therefore these four bills adding to the Not Too Young To Run Act have now been assented by Mr. President and have now become laws.
“Then the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended are hereby further amended by the assent of Mr President to these bills today.
“This allows the State Houses of Assembly to operate like the National Assembly does because the National Assembly does not get its from the executive, it gets.”
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