*State Houses of Assembly, Judiciary now financially autonomous
*No second term for Vice President, Deputy Governors succeeding their principals
*By-elections increased from 7 to 21 days
By Ahmed Idris
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, said on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the 1999 Constitution Fourth Alteration Bill, which grants financial autonomy to the State Houses of Assembly and the States’ Judiciary nationwide.
Addressing State House correspondents in Abuja, Enang said with the signing into law the Constitution Alteration Bill, State Houses of Assembly would now operate like the National Assembly where Federal Ministry of Finance would automatically transfer budgetary allocation direct to the account of the NASS.
He said said judiciary in the states would also enjoy similar financial independence as their budgetary allocations would no longer go through the budgeting process of the executive arms at the state level but would be transferred directly to the account of the judiciary.
“Therefore upon this signature the amount standing to the credit of the judiciary are now to be paid directly to the judiciary of that state, no more through the governor and no more from the governors.
“And then amounts standing to the credits of the Houses of Assembly of the respective states are now to be paid directly to the Houses of Assembly of that state for the benefit of the legislature and the management of the State Houses of Assembly. This grants full autonomy now to the judiciary at the state level and the Houses of Assembly at the state level,’’ he said.
He said with the signing of the bill, State Houses of Assembly would now operate like the National Assembly (NASS), adding that the NASS got its allocations transferred directly to its account by the federal ministry of finance.
He said: “This allows the State Houses of Assembly to operate like the National Assembly does because the National Assembly does not get its money from the executive.
“It provides money in the statutory transfers which the Ministry of Finance will automatically transfer to the account of the National Assembly. Just like that of the (Federal) Judiciary, you see the judiciary sometime get N150 – N170billion sometime a little bit about a N100billion.
“It does not go through the executive and it does go through the budgeting process of the executive. It is transferred directly to the account of the judiciary, which is the head of courts.
“When the Houses of Assembly are doing their budgets the amounts standing to the credit of the judiciary it will now going to be among the statutory transfers which will be statutorily transferred to the heads of the courts. And then that of the State Houses of Assembly will stand transferred to the House of Assembly of the state.’’
Enang also told journalists that the President has signed into law the Constitution Amendment No. 21 which relates to determination of pre-election matters, stressing that the new bill has reduced the days and time of determining pre-election matter to ensure that pre-election matters in courts do not get into the time of election.
do not pend thereafter.
He said the President also signed into law bill No. 16, adding that “the intent of the Bill No. 16 is to ensure that where a Vice-President succeeds a President or a Deputy Governor succeeds a Governor he can no more contest for that office more than once more. The fact is that having taken the oath as president once and you can only contest for the office once again and no more. That is the intent of this amendment.”
He said the president also signed the Bill No. 9 into law which gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sufficient time to conduct bye-elections.
He said with the president’s signature on the bill the days for the conduct of bye-elections had been increased from seven to 21 days.
“These four Bills added to the “Not Too Young To Run’’ Act, have now been assented to by Mr President and they have now become laws.And then the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended are hereby further amended by the assents of Mr President to these bills today,’’ he said.
