Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a constitutional lawyer has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order 10, stressing that it subverts the nation’s federal system of government and void constitutionally.
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The SAN maintained that even though the diversion of monies meant for their legislative assemblies, judiciaries, and local government councils by state governors was condemnable and called for firm actions to stop it. He stressed that the Fourth Alteration to the Constitution (Act No. 7) of 2018 was aimed at stopping it. He pointed out that the Alteration neither adds to nor subtracted from the financial autonomy already granted to the Judiciary by the pre-existing section 121(3) of the Constitution.
Nwabueze in a press statement made available to journalists on Thursday stated that the Alteration granted financial autonomy to the State House of Assembly but lumped together with the financial autonomy of the State Judiciaries as it existed under section 121(3) before the Fourth Alteration in 2018, pointing out that it was not clear why the Fourth Alteration chose the rather confusing way to bring about the change.
He maintained that the most fundamental provisions to which the President’s executive power was made subject under section 5(1) was the provision dividing powers of government between the Federal Government and the State Governments under sections 4, 5 and 6, the effect of which was to establish a federal system of government for the country.
Nwabueze pointed out that the Executive Order 10 was unconstitutional and void because it trenched on the autonomy of the State Governments flowing from the division of powers, which made it inconsistent with the federal system.
“The issue for consideration and determination here is whether it is constitutionally competent for President Buhari to try to implement the State Houses of Assembly’s financial autonomy by means of Executive Order 10 issued by him in his capacity as head of the executive arm of the Federal Government.
Granted that the financial autonomy of the State Houses of Assembly should be protected against diversion of their money by the State Governors, by what means and at what cost should this be done? Should it be by means of an Executive Order made by the President as sole individual in his capacity as Head of the executive arm of the Federal Government? Executive Orders are something new in Nigeria, and their constitutional boundaries, as a form of legislation, are yet to be delineated and defined”, he said.
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