NILDS, German Government back financial autonomy for state legislature

Director-General of National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Olanrewaju Suleiman and representative of the German Government on Tuesday underscored the need for financial autonomy of the Legislative arm of Government in the bid to deepen democracy in Nigeria.

Professor Suleiman gave the charge while addressing the Speaker and Members of the Plateau State House of Assembly during the first in the series of workshops planned for State Houses of Assembly in 2022 by KAS and NILDS.

According to him, the content of this year’s workshop was “based on our assessment of needs arising from our engagement in 2022 as well as inputs received from presiding officers of partner State Houses of Assembly.

“It will be remiss of me not to state ab initio that there have been significant developments in the Plateau State House of Assembly since our last meeting. The leadership crisis that resulted in the removal of the former Speaker and the inauguration of the current speaker and the fallouts of these developments have been largely reported in the press.

“These events, which are not alien to democratic growth and consolidation, especially in emerging democracies, once again compel us to reflect on legislative institution building in Nigeria.

“It shows only too clearly that our democracy is still very fragile and we must take measures collectively to strengthen our systems and processes not to protect one man but to protect us all and indeed the legislature and democracy itself.

“Some of the most serious issues we need to address include those relating to the procedure for removing presiding officers as contained in the Standing Orders as well as improving transparency in our processes. We must not only do the right things at all times but we should also be seen to be doing the right thing. We would have failed in our responsibility to our constituents if we are not seen to act in good faith.

“The Plateau House of Assembly has been a pacesetter in many respects and you have achieved so much in the past years. I implore you to continue in that path and fulfil your obligation to the people of Plateau State. I am particularly pleased that the new leadership has maintained this important partnership with NILDS and KAS in the area of capacity building.

“There have been other major milestones that include the signing of the Electoral Act (2022) by President Muhammadu Buhari. Several of the innovative provisions in the Act have been lauded and tipped to potentially result in significant improvements in the electoral process.

“For instance, the legal backing given to the use of Smart Card Reader (SCR) and any technology for that matter that INEC intends to deploy as well as the legal backing to electronic transmission of results from Polling Units, can lead to greater transparency to our electoral process.

“These and other important provisions will be discussed during this workshop. As you are all aware, INEC has already acted in line with this new instrument to challenge some decisions of political parties. 

“There have also been monumental developments in Ebonyi and Cross River States. On March 8, 2022, a Federal High Court ordered the removal of the Governor and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State from Office stating that their defection was unconstitutional. In a similar development, another Federal High Court ordered the removal of 18 Members of the Cross-River State House of Assembly and two Members of the House of Representatives who defected alongside Governor Ben Ayade from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Meanwhile, another Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, on Monday, March 21, struck out the motion filed by sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi, seeking a stay of execution of the March 8 judgment. And as of yesterday morning, March 22, there were reports that the Nigeria Police Force had taken over the Cross-River state House of Assembly.

“These developments have affected the legislature and could potentially lead to a governance vacuum and further impact negatively on our democracy,” he noted.

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On his part, the newly elected Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Yakubu Sanda affirmed that the Assembly enjoys full financial autonomy. 

“We operate on our own. We do not have any problem as long as financial autonomy is concerned.”

While responding to recent declaration of the seat of the former Speaker vacant, Hon. Sanda said: “You are aware that the Constitution is very clear on this; that if a person had the mandate of a political party to take a position, by the time you move to another party, you vacate your office.

“The Assembly is stabilised now there is no crisis in the Assembly,” he said.

In his remarks, KONRAD’s Resident Representative, Dr. Vladimir Kreck said that part of the organisation’s interventions in Nigeria had been to support State Houses of Assembly by assisting them fulfil their legislative assignments.

On financial autonomy of the legislature, Dr. Kreck said: “it is necessary for them to be independent from other tiers of government. If one of the tiers of government is dependent on the other, they can’t function optimally.”