Chairman of Gombe State chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Comrade Muhammed Bello Dukku, has berated the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) for refusing to adhere to the financial autonomy granted to State Houses of Assembly.
Muhammad Bello Dukku who spoke to Journalists immediately after they prevented the Speaker of the State Assembly, Honourable Abubakar Leggerewo, from getting into the Assembly complex said: “The Nigerian Governors Forum is our problem in this country. They swore to uphold the provision of the constitution of Nigeria which is guiding us as Nigerians but they have not.”
The Chairman added that; ” If there is no constitution, there is no way they can become Governors and we are following them because of the constitution, it gave them that right. But they don’t want to abide by the provision of the constitution. They are not above the constitution, they have to follow the doctrine of democracy which advocate for the separation of powers “.
Muhammed Bello Dukku further said that “President Muhammadu Buhari had good intension and that was why the National Assembly during Bukola Saraki, passed the law which the President assented to that law which became binding and also issued an executive order 10 to make it suitable for every one of us.”
He declared that “We came out today to defend our constitution, the constitution says legislative autonomy is paramount, it has to be in place, there is no way we can see some few individuals, cabals will organise themselves and throw everything to the gutter.”
He also called on the NGF to do justice to Nigerians, the constitution and democracy so that the Nigerian interest will be above everybody’s interest and said, “if they have their own interest, let them keep it aside, let them ensure that democracy is moving in Nigeria,” he advised.
Asked about the fate of bills pending in the Assembly, he said, “The fate of these bills in the House now is that they will be stepped down, we are not going to entertain any bill in any State Assembly no matter how important.”
However, earlier before he was prevented from getting into the Assembly complex, the Speaker of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Abubakar Leggerewo, appealed to the striking staff to remain peaceful in their agitation and never allow miscreants to hijack the peaceful protest.
He said: “We all believe in the doctrine of separation of powers and we all know that staff welfare is of paramount importance. We are doing everything possible within our constitutional jurisdiction to resolve the matter on our own end.”
He expressed assurance that the Governor of the State would give them a listening ear saying, “I’m sure our Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, is a man of peace, I am sure he is going to do something about it, we spoke this morning and he told me he is going to call the Gombe State Chapter for dialogue tomorrow God’s willing. The Governors are on a round table discussion on this issue and it will be resolved soon by God’s grace without any delay.”
Apart from the Speaker, every other staff of the Assembly including the Clerk were all prevented from gaining access into the Assembly complex which was under lock and key and manned by the Nigeria Police.
It will be recalled that President Muhammad Buhari, had in 2018 signed and assented to the financial autonomy of the legislature and followed it up with order 10.
However, non of the State Houses of Assembly have been granted that autonomy by their State Governors and the Gombe PASAN Chairman at the commencement of their indefinite strike action in Gombe, accused the State Governors of selfishly subverting the constitutional provision of financial autonomy for the legislature.
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Legislative autonomy: Gombe PASAN says NGF is Nigeria’s problem
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