SAN FRANCISCO, May 23, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has signed an Executive Order that will henceforth make the legislature and judiciary financially independent from the executive in the States, the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice said Friday in a statement.
The statement said the President signed into law the Executive Order No. 10 of 2020 for the implementation of Financial Autonomy of State Legislature and State Judiciary Order, 2020, following the report submitted to him by a Presidential Implementation Committee.
“The President signed the Executive Order number 10 into law based on the power vested in him as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Section 5 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended), which extends to the execution and maintenance of the Constitution, laws made by the National Assembly (including but not limited to Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended), which guarantee financial autonomy of the state legislature and state judiciary,” the statement said.
The new Executive Order provides that “The Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this order and any other such orders, regulations or guidelines as may be issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, authorise the deduction from source in the course of Federation Accounts Allocation from the money allocated to any state of the federation that fails to release allocation meant for the state legislature and state judiciary in line with the financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999,” the statement added.
THEWILL reports that this is a big deal for politics at the States because Governors have used control over the finances of the legislature and judiciary as a tool to control and forcefully coerce the two other equal arms of government.
About the Author
