The Nigeria Governors’ Forum said on Wednesday that the 36 state governors were not opposed to autonomies for the legislature and the judiciary.
NGF Vice Chairman and Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, added that consensus had been reached on the autonomy conundrum, assuring that the ongoing judiciary staff strike would soon be suspended.
Tambuwal spoke in Ado Ekiti during a colloquium with the theme, ‘The Judicial Autonomy: Perspective of the NGF, organised by the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice Academy in honour of the retiring Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola.
He faulted the Executive Order 10 issued in 2020 by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), saying Buhari was ill-advised on the issue.
He said that NGF expected the President to have consulted widely before issuing the order, adding that exercising such powers unilaterally was ‘sheer illegality’.
Tambuwal said, “As governors, we will be failing in our responsibility if we refuse to draw the attention of the President, stakeholders and the country to grave concerns about the constitutionality of Executive Order 10 of 2020. That was the basis of the position that we took on the Executive Order 10.
“The Executive Order 10, ostensibly intended to support the implementation of judicial financial autonomy, was completely unnecessary and ill advised. Let me at this juncture state clearly that we never questioned the right of Mr President to issue Executive Orders. We only stated that Section 121(3) did not require Presidential Executive Fiat to become implementable.”
Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, also said governors were committed to financial autonomy for the legislature and judiciary.
Fayemi said, “Who is to take capital spending for the judiciary and legislature has always been the controversy. The governors will continue to hold our judiciary with reverence, because we know that this democracy will not endure if we subject our judiciary to the jackboots of the executive.”
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