The 36 state governors on Wednesday called for the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee on the autonomy of state legislature and judiciary.
The committee, set up by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2018, is the brain behind the Executive Order 10 issued by the President in May 2020, for the enforcement of financial autonomy of the two arms of government at the state level.
The Nigerian governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), chaired by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, made the call for the dissolution of the committee at a teleconference they held on Wednesday.
In the communique they issued at the end of their Wednesday’s meeting, the governors accused the committee, led by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, of creating disaffection between state governments and the other arms of government, and therefore called for its dissolution.
The resolution was arrived at during their deliberation on the Executive Order 10, which relates to the ongoing nationwide strike by judiciary workers. The workers have shut down courts across the country for 45 days as of Thursday, in agitation for the implementation of the financial autonomy of the judiciary.
“The NGF resolved to call for the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Autonomy of State Legislature and Judiciary as this Committee is now acting as a permanent committee basically misguiding and overheating the relationship between State Governments and the other arms of government,” the forum’s communique, signed by Mr Fayemi, read in part.
The governors’ call for the dissolution of the committee coincided with Wednesday’s resolution by the striking members of the Judiciary Staff Union (JUSUN) to continue with their ongoing strike until their demand for the financial independence of the judiciary is met.
Executive Order 10 and Malami’s committee
President Buhari had set up the Mr Malami-led committee in December 2018 to fashion out modalities for the enforcement of section 121(3) of the constitution on the financial independence of the arms of government.
The committee recommended the issuance of the Executive Order 10 as an instrument for the enforcement of the constitutional provision which Mr Buhari signed in May 2020.
