Parliamentary staffs demand financial autonomy for state legislaturess
The Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) says it will sustain its current industrial action, until the state Houses of Assembly are granted financial autonomy.
The Enugu State Chairman of the associaition, Mr Fabian Nwaigbo, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Thursday.
Nwaigbo said the group would no longer condone a situation where the state legislature depended on the executive to meet its financial obligations.
He described the trend as a gross violation of the principle of separation of power as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
He said that the legislature should be financially autonomous, being an independent arm of government.
He dismissed as childish, insinuations that legislature’s financial autonomy would breed conflicts between the legislative and executive arms.
He opined that the development would rather strengthen the synergy between the two arms.
Nwaigbo regretted that the group’s industrial action had crippled legislative activities across the federation, with crucial bills waiting to be attended to.
He, therefore, appealed to the state governors to approve the autonomy, already signed as Executive Order 10 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, the lack of financial autonomy has rendered many state legislatures ineffective, making them look like annexes of the executive.
He said, “State lawmakers will not be making laws and also going against the provision of the Constitution that granted financial autonomy to them.
(NAN)
