Dogara Chides State Assemblies Over LG Autonomy
- NASS ready to re-work rejected amendment
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara says the failure of State legislatures to grant autonomy to local government in the ongoing constitution amendment is a huge disappointment to Nigerians.
He however said all hope is not lost as the State lawmakers can still endorse the autonomy when the National Assembly (NASS) re-presents it again for the sake of deepening and delivering the dividends of democracy to the grassroots in future.
Acknowledging the returns by States Houses of Assembly on the Constitution Amendment Bill transmitted by NASS to them for assent, Speaker Dogara said; “I can say that I am disappointed because I thought that the courage demonstrated by these highly skilled legislators, some of whom are seated before us, would have delivered the long awaited local government autonomy, but unfortunately, maybe our courage didn’t go that far.”
He however, praised the State Assemblies for their courageous and bold step in endorsing state legislatures autonomy, saying; “I must commend you for deciding that the legislature in states should be independent. However, this is not an expression of the opinion of the National Assembly; I want to appropriate this as my personal opinion.”
According to Speaker Dogara, “courage isn’t really the absence of fear, but it is acting in spite of your fears and if it was not because of men and women of courage, I tell you that the democracy itself that we experience now wouldn’t have been possible. When William Wilberforce said slaves must be free, he belonged to the party, majority of whom, were slave owners and on account of that, a revolution started.”
He told the state legislators that most of the measures NASS is seeking to introduce may not be popular now, but if eventually approved will only deepen democracy and the progress of Nigeria for the future generations.
“Just as this one (financial independence for state legislatures) failed the other time, maybe in the next exercise, because our state legislatures are now independent, they will be able to extend this same independence to local governments. We all know the benefits of the independence of the 3rd tier, we all know that”, the Speaker noted
Dogara charged President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the bill as it represents the wishes of Nigerians expressed through their federal and state legislators.
Among clauses endorsed by the State Assemblies are: reduction of period for extra budgetary expenditure by the Executive from six to three months; Legislative immunity for lawmakers; removal of the word “Force” from Nigeria Police: and new regulations governing conduct of bye elections by INEC.
Others include: Limiting the tenure of presidents and governors to eight years by not taking oath of office more than twice; inclusion of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in the constitution; reduction in age for elective offices; and stipulation of date for budget presentation by the President.