By Idowu Akinlotan

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 10 does not grant financial autonomy to the state legislature and judiciary; it only gives teeth to the amendment made to Section 121 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The 8th Assembly actually granted the autonomy, clearly against the wish of governors. Even now, the governors are still up in arms against the amendment, citing, not the provisions of the relevant amended section, but the presumption of the Executive Order 10 which curiously goes out of its way to impute what is not part of the amendment. Even if the governors manage to get the president to reword the executive order, they are unlikely to defeat or significantly weaken the amended section. In short, whether they like it or not, and no matter how much they may succeed in delaying the implementation of the financial autonomy law, the state legislature and judiciary have won a crucial victory in their fight for independence.

Section 121 (3) (as amended) is wisely designed to plug the loopholes encountered in the discharge of the functions of state parliaments and judiciaries. That amendment has been passed and assented and may not be revisited anytime soon. The governors had more than a year to work out the modality of implementing it. But they continued to sulk and dither, having lost the argument of retaining significant leverage over the other two arms of government. Had they been forward-looking, they would have been the inspiration behind the amendment, knowing full well that even more than the executive, the parliament is the most recognisable and powerful face of democracy, requiring not only protection whatever the cost, but also independence, no matter the inconvenience. They should also have known from experience that safeguarding democracy, particularly against arbitrariness for which they have also been victims, was necessary to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The financial autonomy law makes double sure that the two arms of government are protected against the corrosive influence of governors. Had the states sensibly taken the initiative to give teeth to the amendment, there would have been no need for any executive order.

More than a year after the law had been left unimplemented, the conference of speakers of State Houses of Assembly took it upon itself to lobby for its implementation. Except the governors unwisely litigate Executive Order 10, against the will of the people, it seems guaranteed that the state parliaments and judiciaries will from this month now be directly funded from state consolidated funds untrammelled by the arbitrary use of power and influence of governors. It is also expected that whatever powers the executive order has appropriated in excess of the relevant constitutional provision will be sorted out with the federal government. It was misguided of the executive order to stipulate certain steps and punishment not provided in the amendment, and it was also misguided of the governors to have sat on the amendment as if that would wish the autonomy away. Having seemed to have forced the issue now, the fear of delay appears to be over. It is indeed time for the other arms of government to function as both the spirit and the letter of the constitution envisaged.

However, the problem is not so much whether these other oppressed arms are financially autonomous or not. The problem of the Nigerian constitution, as imperfect as it is, is the lack of fealty to its provisions by all arms of government. Being very enlightened, the people are conversant with the spirit and the letter of the constitution, but they have rarely demonstrated any allegiance to its provisions. Even without the amendment, not to talk of the executive order, governors ought never to use the budgetary provisions of the other arms of government to punish them and coerce their obedience. But they do, often shamelessly.

It is nevertheless too early to rejoice. The federal government does not fight or oppose the financial autonomy of the other arms of government at the national level, but it has not stopped it from crudely subverting the parliament or sometimes laying siege to it, or even destructively cajoling and shackling the judiciary. So, how many extraordinary constitutional amendments would be needed to ensure compliance with the spirit and letter of the constitution? The financial autonomy law and executive order may be the first tentative steps in the right direction, but make no mistake that the governors know a million ways by which to compromise the parliament and inoculate the judiciary against wisdom and courage.

Editors Note; Written by Idowu Akinlotan and originally published in Thenationonlineng.net