Buhari Delays Implementation Of Financial Autonomy For State Assemblies, Judiciary

President Muhammadu Buhari has deferred the gazetting of the executive order which he recently signed to grant financial autonomy to state assemblies and judiciary.
This was disclosed by Kayode Fayemi, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and Governor of Ekiti State, to State House correspondents after he and some governors met with Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to the President and some ministers in Abuja on Monday.
President Buhari had on 22 May signed Executive Order No 10 of 2020 granting financial independence to state assemblies and judiciary.
 
But the state governors expressed their opposition to the president’s order, claiming that it runs in conflict with the 1999 constitution (as amended).
Speaking after the meeting with the presidential aides, Governor Fayemi said President Buhari has delayed the implementation of the order over the governors’ concerns.
The NGF Chairman said the president agreed to suspend the gazetting of the order pending further consultations and the resolving of all related constitutional issues.
He said: “We have a delegation of the governors’ forum here to discuss some matters of fundamental importance to the nation and the president has asked that we meet with the attorney general, the chief of staff, and the minister of finance planning and budget on the issue.
“It is an issue that has seized the interest of many of you in the media and a lot of people in the federation, it is about the autonomy of the state legislature and the judiciary and we’ve met with the president before now on it and the president was very pleased that for us as governors, we are all united in support of the autonomy of state judiciary and the legislature; that’s the position of the 36 Governors of the federation.
“What is at issue is on the constitutionality of the modalities of what had been put in the executive order and the president was gracious enough to say ‘okay, given your concerns about that, we will delay the gazetting of the order and allow you meet with the attorney general and the minister of finance to work out the modalities.”
Governor Fayemi added that the governors have also been consulting with speakers of state assemblies “and we believe that all of that would be settled amicably without any resort to court”.