Lawyer Pleads Ondo State Governor for financial autonomy to House of Assembly, Judiciary

  A lawyer, Mr Femi Emmanuel Emodamori pleads Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa to grant financial autonomy to the State House of Assembly and the Judiciary as enshrined in  the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

Emodamori who made the call in a press statement issued on Thursday criticised the habitual ridicule of the constitutionally guaranteed financial autonomy and integrity of State Houses of Assembly by the state executive arm.

He said, “I watched the Hon. Speaker of the State House of Assembly beaming with smiles and bending over his knees when receiving the car ‘gift’.

“The vehicles were reportedly purchased with or from about the N429 million provided for in the 2023 budget of the State House of Assembly for procuring official vehicles for her principal officers. Therefore, they are not ‘gifts’ from the Executive or Mr. Governor. However, the House does not, and has never been allowed to control its own finances and budgets. Rather, the executive arm spends money meant for the House on behalf of the House leadership.

“I am privileged to know that today, the House cannot raise just Two Million Naira (N2m) to meet its capital or recurrent expenditure without going cap in hand to the Executive.

“In fairness, Your Excellency did not start the financial emasculation or subjugation of the House. Even my big brother and mentor, the late Governor Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN did not do much to accord the House its financial autonomy, apparently because, as a wise man once reminded us, a slave who loves his chain will remain perpetually in bondage.

“So, as I watched Mr. Speaker virtually kissing the feet of Mr. Governor during the public presentation of the vehicles, I felt a sense of pity rolled into indignation for the Speaker’s understanding (or lack of it?) of the constitutional provision of financial autonomy for State Houses of Assembly.

“Section 121 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) initially provides financial autonomy for the State Judiciary alone by stating that ‘Any amount standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the heads of the courts concerned.'”

He added that Nigerians agitated for financial autonomy for State Houses of Assembly to counter financial recklessness and treasury looting and this led to the Fourth Alteration Act of 2017, signed into law by then-President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018.

“Section 121 of the Principal Act is altered by substituting for subsection (3), a new subsection “3”.

“‘3’ Any amount standing to the credit of the-

(a) House of Assembly of the State; and

(b) Judiciary in the Consolidated Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the said bodies respectively; in the case of Judiciary, such amount shall be paid directly to the heads of the courts concerned,” the statement added.

He argued that the cited provisions of the law clearly allowed the legislature and the judiciary to be financially independent in the state.

He therefore threatened to institute legal action if the Ondo State Government fails to pay the judiciary’s recurrent expenditure pro rata for each quarter of the year, and to pay the capital and recurrent expenditure of the State House of Assembly directly to the House.