The new Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Prince Yekini Idaiye, has rejected claims that recently enacted amendments have stripped the state legislature and judiciary of their financial autonomy, insisting that the changes relate principally to the administration of capital expenditure and do not affect recurrent funding or workers’ salaries.
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Idaiye spoke while Governor Monday Okpebholo signed the Edo State House of Assembly Funds Management Bill 2023 and the State Judiciary Financial Autonomy 2023 Amendment Bill into law at the Government House in Benin City.
The legislation has generated controversy, particularly over concerns about whether the amendments effectively return control of funds meant for the judiciary and legislature to the executive arm of government.
The Speaker, however, said those fears were misplaced.
“The legislation did not remove the financial autonomy of the House of Assembly or the judiciary,” Idaiye said.
According to him, recurrent expenditure would continue to be released directly to the legislature and judiciary, while the amendment deals specifically with how funds for capital projects are managed.
“The recurrent expenditure would continue to go to the Assembly and judiciary, while the amendment addressed the management of capital funds,” he explained.
Idaiye said the decision to amend the existing framework arose from concerns about the management of the capital component of the funds.
“It is the capital part of the funds that has issues. It was badly abused,” he said.
Under the arrangement explained by the Speaker, the Assembly and judiciary would continue to prepare proposals for capital projects, but such proposals would pass through the executive and the appropriation process before the relevant funds are accessed and projects implemented.
He maintained that the arrangement should not be interpreted as the abolition of financial autonomy.
“The autonomy is still in place; there is no fear on any side, and the unions should not have any fear,” Idaiye said.
He specifically sought to reassure workers that their salaries and recurrent expenditure were not affected by the amendments.
“I believe they have not been properly briefed, but the autonomy is still in order, and the workers’ salaries are not touched,” he added.
The clarification comes amid opposition to the legislation from workers in the judiciary, who have expressed concerns over the possible implications of the amendments for judicial financial independence.
Governor Okpebholo, while signing the bills, acknowledged that the legislation had generated considerable controversy.
“I am indeed delighted because this has become like a controversial law, I must confess to you,” the governor said.
He argued that each of the three arms of government had clearly defined constitutional responsibilities and should operate within those boundaries.
According to Okpebholo, the executive arm is responsible for administration and implementation of government programmes, while the legislature is primarily charged with making laws and carrying out oversight responsibilities, and the judiciary interprets the law and adjudicates disputes and offences.
“For me, deviating from these is totally out of the field of play, changing the goal post. I saw danger in it and the way things were going,” the governor said.
Okpebholo said his concern centred particularly on capital expenditure, maintaining that funds earmarked for projects should ultimately result in tangible development for Edo residents.
He argued that capital projects were among the most visible ways government resources translated into improvements in citizens’ lives and expressed concern that, under the previous arrangement, funds meant for such projects were allegedly not producing the desired results.
The governor consequently backed a framework in which the executive would handle the capital component through the appropriation and implementation process.
He commended the lawmakers for passing the amendments, describing their action as being in the interest of the people and development of the state.
The controversy, however, centres on the distinction being drawn by the government between recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure.
While Idaiye maintains that retaining direct recurrent funding means the financial autonomy of the legislature and judiciary remains intact, the amendments place the management of capital funds under a process in which proposals from the two arms would require executive involvement and approval.
The Speaker nevertheless insisted that neither the salaries of judiciary and Assembly workers nor their recurrent operational funding had been taken away.
His message to workers and unions was unequivocal: “The autonomy is still in place; there is no fear on any side.”
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