Judicial Autonomy: Govs More Powerful Than Buhari — Daniel Bwala

…They Are Lazy, Selfish, Opposed To Restructuring
…They Control State Legislature, Judiciary, Local Govts, Appoint
Ministerial Nominees, Ambassadors, Spend State Funds The Way They
Like
…Buhari Should Sign Another Executive Order Mandating State
Accountants-General To Release Judiciary Money To Them Directly Or
Face EFCC

Lawyer and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress
APC, Dr Daniel Bwala has slammed state Governors for their
hypocritical attitude towards Restructuring, describing them as
lazy, selfish and only concerned about their personal issues.

Speaking on The Morning Show on Arise TV on Friday, Bwala said
it was selfish of the governors to continue to operate in complete
disregard for the Presidential Executive Order 10 which gives
expression to the constitutionally guaranteed financial autonomy of
the judiciary.

The governors had said while they were not opposed to the
Executive Order Number 10 as signed last year by President
Muhammadu Buhari, they would not be stampeded into abiding by it in
their relationship with the judicial arm of government in their
various states.

Consequently, the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria JUSUN had been
on strike in several states of the federation for about two weeks
while court activities are grounded as a result of the attitude of
the governors.

According to Bwala; “The Executive Order 10 as couched can,
literally, create a bit of confusion because of the mixture of two
things, for example the preamble up to the first order, I believe
is constitutional and is pursuant to the provisions of the
constitution if you look at Section 5. But, from Number 2 of the
Executive Order that runs down, they are matters that can be
debated because they look like directing the states, and if it is
so, it must be by an Act of the National Assembly because if the
President proceeds on that, then it will amount to what we call
Executive-Legislation”.

He berated the Governors for saying they were waiting for the
president to come back to the country so they could find a
political solution to the issue.

“They know for a fact that if they take on the president
directly to the Supreme Court for interpretation, if the court
interprets in favour of the federal government, they have
completely lost their powers as far as the judiciary and
legislature are concerned, forever. They would rather that they
find a political solution. And in my view, they are able of cowing
the president into conceding to say ‘okay, let’s see how we can
implement it’. I advise the president to insist on implementation
and that they can sue his federal government to the Supreme Court
if they do not want to implement the Order.

Anti-restructuring agents

“This autonomy we are talking about is to the lawmakers and to
the judiciary in the states the same way it has been replicated at
the federal level. And, what is restructuring? These are
ingredients of restructuring that the governors have clamoured for.
You cannot approbate and reprobate. You cannot be asking for
devolution of powers when you cannot concede powers within your
level.

“Apart from Section 251 of the constitution which provides for a
federal high court jurisdiction on matters that affect the
government of the Federation, all other matters not covered by that
section are within the wider powers of the state High Courts. And,
how can the state high courts continue to dispense justice without
the influence of the governors when their finances are being
controlled?

“Sometimes you watch the television and governors will give cars
to judges and parade the judges like criminals. These are money
that should have gone to the judiciary direct and they determine
the application. Have you seen where state assemblies stand up to
their governors in the last 10 years? Is that the restructuring we
are talking about? Restructuring is when the arms and instruments
of government are empowered to operate independent of the other and
if the governors cannot support this, then I do not think the
governors should have the audacity and temerity to bring about the
issue of devolution of powers at the federal level.

“How can you appropriate money for the judiciary and then
continue to use the money for them? Sometimes they don’t even see
it”.

Arrest erring state Accountants General

“I am even advising the president to proceed beyond this and
sign another Executive Order mandating the EFCC to begin to
prosecute the Accountant General of States when they fail to
release directly to the respective heads of those bodies money that
are released because they are in violation of the constitution.
EFCC can bring an amendment to its Act to criminalize that. By the
time every Accountant General you appoint is being prosecuted, the
governors would have to do something.

Lazy but powerful

Bwala said Nigerian Governors are lazy, yet more power than the
President.

He said; “These governors rule the states like personal
enterprise. They give what they want and they don’t give what they
don’t want to give. Nobody questions them

“We have lazy governors who are only concerned about themselves,
not even their states. Ordinarily, in the last eight to 10 months
since the signing of this Order, if it were in other climes,
somebody would have rushed to the Supreme Court and in this case,
it is the governors because the president has a dominant power. The
governors are supposed to approach the Supreme Court to seek
interpretation.

“In this country, even under the current framework of the
constitution, people do not know that the governors are more
powerful than the president. The governor in his state determines
who becomes local government chairman. We have been fighting for
their autonomy but the local governments were so intimidated that
even when amendment was brought to their own favour, they rejected
it. State Assemblies were also intimidated into rejecting their own
autonomy until recently that they accepted. The Judiciary is not in
a position to come out and talk. Governors appoint judicial
officers. The governor determines who becomes a legislator in his
state, the local government chairmen, then who becomes a House of
Representatives member or Senator. If at the party level you want
to reduce their powers and say you want direct primary, they will
kill heaven and earth to ensure they have their ways. They control
the National Assembly. Then at the level of the federal executive,
they nominate who becomes minister, ambassadors and heads of MDAs.
Even in the federal cabinet, they can undermine the president
through the agents that they nominated. At the National Assembly,
they can undermine the Executive through the people they endorse to
go there. Then when you come down to the power of the purse, in the
states, there is no machinery alive that can checkmate what they
do.

“So, the powers of the governor in terms of accountability is
left until after eight years when he has done what he wanted and
has gone, then the EFCC will begin to scramble for whatever they
can get. The governors have enormous powers in Nigeria and now they
are asking for more powers but power should go along with
responsibility. The president cannot act on many issues without the
national assembly. Likewise, the Judiciary is there to reverse him
on certain issues. It is not so for governors.

“Does the president have powers to sign an Executive Order? Yes.
And the support is found in Section 5 of the constitution. The
scope of his powers is the federation of Nigeria which includes the
federal capital and the states in some cases.

“Subsection 1 says subject to the provisions of this
constitution, the Executive powers of the federation shall be
vested in the president. That power he exercises through himself,
or the vice, ministers or public officers of the Federation. But
Subsection 2 now prescribes specific powers which are powers that
are granted by an Act of the National Assembly or that are although
today not enacted but which the National Assembly has the power to
enact and such other powers. Now, Executive Order is flowing from
Subsection 1 which is the power to give effect to the
Constitution.

“What the president sought to enforce in Section 121(3) which
states that money that is charged to the House of Assembly or to
the Judiciary shall be paid directly to them. This is self
commanding, meaning that every governor within the federation must
see to it that the constitution is enforced by ensuring that money
appropriated in the budget for these two arms of government at the
state level should be sent to them directly. However, since last
year when this Order was signed, seeing that only five states or
thereabouts were able to implement grudgingly, the rest of the
states have failed to do that and this is the only time you find
all the governors being unanimous and bipartisan. That explains the
selfishness with which governors run the states.

“Look at the constitution, where it expressly provides for an
act to be performed by a governor, if the governor fails go perform
the act, the constitution has not specifically stated what should
be done. It is in this kind of scenario that the president invokes
the inherent powers that he has because he has a duty to enforce
and maintain the constitution. The good thing about separation of
powers is that it can always be reviewed by a court as to whether
he had gone beyond his bounds or not. But you can see that the
governor’s do not necessy want to go to the Supreme Court because
the reason they don’t want to go is that they know that the court
will almost always interpret Executive Orders as constitutional,
giving effect to Section 121(3).

“The part where the president might have a problem if the matter
goes to the Supreme Court is from Number 2 downwards because those
ones are specific instructions on how the states should form
committees and do other things. The federal government under
separation of powers cannot give such directives except that is
forwarded to the National Assembly to enact into law.

“The president can invoke his powers to order the Accountant
General of the Federation to deduct from source and charge directly
to the relevant arms of the state”, Bwala added.

…They Are Lazy, Selfish, Opposed To Restructuring
…They Control State Legislature, Judiciary, Local Govts, Appoint
Ministerial Nominees, Ambassadors, Spend State Funds The Way They
Like
…Buhari Should Sign Another Executive Order Mandating State
Accountants-General To Release Judiciary Money To Them Directly Or
Face EFCC

Lawyer and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress
APC, Dr Daniel Bwala has slammed state Governors for their
hypocritical attitude towards Restructuring, describing them as
lazy, selfish and only concerned about their personal issues.

Speaking on The Morning Show on Arise TV on Friday, Bwala said
it was selfish of the governors to continue to operate in complete
disregard for the Presidential Executive Order 10 which gives
expression to the constitutionally guaranteed financial autonomy of
the judiciary.

The governors had said while they were not opposed to the
Executive Order Number 10 as signed last year by President
Muhammadu Buhari, they would not be stampeded into abiding by it in
their relationship with the judicial arm of government in their
various states.

Consequently, the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria JUSUN had been
on strike in several states of the federation for about two weeks
while court activities are grounded as a result of the attitude of
the governors.

According to Bwala; “The Executive Order 10 as couched can,
literally, create a bit of confusion because of the mixture of two
things, for example the preamble up to the first order, I believe
is constitutional and is pursuant to the provisions of the
constitution if you look at Section 5. But, from Number 2 of the
Executive Order that runs down, they are matters that can be
debated because they look like directing the states, and if it is
so, it must be by an Act of the National Assembly because if the
President proceeds on that, then it will amount to what we call
Executive-Legislation”.

He berated the Governors for saying they were waiting for the
president to come back to the country so they could find a
political solution to the issue.

“They know for a fact that if they take on the president
directly to the Supreme Court for interpretation, if the court
interprets in favour of the federal government, they have
completely lost their powers as far as the judiciary and
legislature are concerned, forever. They would rather that they
find a political solution. And in my view, they are able of cowing
the president into conceding to say ‘okay, let’s see how we can
implement it’. I advise the president to insist on implementation
and that they can sue his federal government to the Supreme Court
if they do not want to implement the Order.

Anti-restructuring agents

“This autonomy we are talking about is to the lawmakers and to
the judiciary in the states the same way it has been replicated at
the federal level. And, what is restructuring? These are
ingredients of restructuring that the governors have clamoured for.
You cannot approbate and reprobate. You cannot be asking for
devolution of powers when you cannot concede powers within your
level.

“Apart from Section 251 of the constitution which provides for a
federal high court jurisdiction on matters that affect the
government of the Federation, all other matters not covered by that
section are within the wider powers of the state High Courts. And,
how can the state high courts continue to dispense justice without
the influence of the governors when their finances are being
controlled?

“Sometimes you watch the television and governors will give cars
to judges and parade the judges like criminals. These are money
that should have gone to the judiciary direct and they determine
the application. Have you seen where state assemblies stand up to
their governors in the last 10 years? Is that the restructuring we
are talking about? Restructuring is when the arms and instruments
of government are empowered to operate independent of the other and
if the governors cannot support this, then I do not think the
governors should have the audacity and temerity to bring about the
issue of devolution of powers at the federal level.

“How can you appropriate money for the judiciary and then
continue to use the money for them? Sometimes they don’t even see
it”.

Arrest erring state Accountants General

“I am even advising the president to proceed beyond this and
sign another Executive Order mandating the EFCC to begin to
prosecute the Accountant General of States when they fail to
release directly to the respective heads of those bodies money that
are released because they are in violation of the constitution.
EFCC can bring an amendment to its Act to criminalize that. By the
time every Accountant General you appoint is being prosecuted, the
governors would have to do something.

Lazy but powerful

Bwala said Nigerian Governors are lazy, yet more power than the
President.

He said; “These governors rule the states like personal
enterprise. They give what they want and they don’t give what they
don’t want to give. Nobody questions them

“We have lazy governors who are only concerned about themselves,
not even their states. Ordinarily, in the last eight to 10 months
since the signing of this Order, if it were in other climes,
somebody would have rushed to the Supreme Court and in this case,
it is the governors because the president has a dominant power. The
governors are supposed to approach the Supreme Court to seek
interpretation.

“In this country, even under the current framework of the
constitution, people do not know that the governors are more
powerful than the president. The governor in his state determines
who becomes local government chairman. We have been fighting for
their autonomy but the local governments were so intimidated that
even when amendment was brought to their own favour, they rejected
it. State Assemblies were also intimidated into rejecting their own
autonomy until recently that they accepted. The Judiciary is not in
a position to come out and talk. Governors appoint judicial
officers. The governor determines who becomes a legislator in his
state, the local government chairmen, then who becomes a House of
Representatives member or Senator. If at the party level you want
to reduce their powers and say you want direct primary, they will
kill heaven and earth to ensure they have their ways. They control
the National Assembly. Then at the level of the federal executive,
they nominate who becomes minister, ambassadors and heads of MDAs.
Even in the federal cabinet, they can undermine the president
through the agents that they nominated. At the National Assembly,
they can undermine the Executive through the people they endorse to
go there. Then when you come down to the power of the purse, in the
states, there is no machinery alive that can checkmate what they
do.

“So, the powers of the governor in terms of accountability is
left until after eight years when he has done what he wanted and
has gone, then the EFCC will begin to scramble for whatever they
can get. The governors have enormous powers in Nigeria and now they
are asking for more powers but power should go along with
responsibility. The president cannot act on many issues without the
national assembly. Likewise, the Judiciary is there to reverse him
on certain issues. It is not so for governors.

“Does the president have powers to sign an Executive Order? Yes.
And the support is found in Section 5 of the constitution. The
scope of his powers is the federation of Nigeria which includes the
federal capital and the states in some cases.

“Subsection 1 says subject to the provisions of this
constitution, the Executive powers of the federation shall be
vested in the president. That power he exercises through himself,
or the vice, ministers or public officers of the Federation. But
Subsection 2 now prescribes specific powers which are powers that
are granted by an Act of the National Assembly or that are although
today not enacted but which the National Assembly has the power to
enact and such other powers. Now, Executive Order is flowing from
Subsection 1 which is the power to give effect to the
Constitution.

“What the president sought to enforce in Section 121(3) which
states that money that is charged to the House of Assembly or to
the Judiciary shall be paid directly to them. This is self
commanding, meaning that every governor within the federation must
see to it that the constitution is enforced by ensuring that money
appropriated in the budget for these two arms of government at the
state level should be sent to them directly. However, since last
year when this Order was signed, seeing that only five states or
thereabouts were able to implement grudgingly, the rest of the
states have failed to do that and this is the only time you find
all the governors being unanimous and bipartisan. That explains the
selfishness with which governors run the states.

“Look at the constitution, where it expressly provides for an
act to be performed by a governor, if the governor fails go perform
the act, the constitution has not specifically stated what should
be done. It is in this kind of scenario that the president invokes
the inherent powers that he has because he has a duty to enforce
and maintain the constitution. The good thing about separation of
powers is that it can always be reviewed by a court as to whether
he had gone beyond his bounds or not. But you can see that the
governor’s do not necessy want to go to the Supreme Court because
the reason they don’t want to go is that they know that the court
will almost always interpret Executive Orders as constitutional,
giving effect to Section 121(3).

“The part where the president might have a problem if the matter
goes to the Supreme Court is from Number 2 downwards because those
ones are specific instructions on how the states should form
committees and do other things. The federal government under
separation of powers cannot give such directives except that is
forwarded to the National Assembly to enact into law.

“The president can invoke his powers to order the Accountant
General of the Federation to deduct from source and charge directly
to the relevant arms of the state”, Bwala added.