Executive Order 10: Buhari bows to governors’ pressure

... Gazetting of Order to be delayed

President Muhammadu Buhari has agreed to the delay of the process of gazetting of the Executive Order 10 for some concerns of the state governors to be sorted out.

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this to state house correspondents on Monday, after a meeting with representatives of the President.

It would be recalled that President Buhari had recently signed the Executive Order 10, which sought to give autonomy to state Legislature and Judiciary.

However, state governors, under the NGF platform, had kicked at provisions of the Order, citing constitutional concerns.

However, on Monday, at a meeting organized by the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, between representatives of the NGF, led by its Chairman, Dr Fayemi, and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, the federal government said the gazetting of the Order would be delayed.

The meeting was also attended by Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and his Kebbi State counterpart, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.

Speaking at the briefing after the meeting, Dr Fayemi said after listening to the concerns of the governors about the constitutionality of the Executive Order, President Buhari agreed that its gazetting would be delayed.

“We have a delegation of the governors’ Forum here to discuss some matters of fundamental importance to the nation and the President has asked that we meet with the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff and the Minister of Finance Planning and Budget on the issue.

“It is an issue that has seized the interest of many of you in the media and a lot of people in the federation, it is about the autonomy of the State legislature and the judiciary and we’ve met with the President before now on it and the President was very pleased that for us as Governors, we are all united in support of the autonomy of State judiciary and the legislature; that’s the position of the 36 Governors of the federation.

“What is at issue is on the constitutionality of the modalities of what had been put in the Executive Order and the President was gracious enough to say ok, given your concerns about that we will delay the gazetting of the order and allow you meet with the Attorney General and the Minister of Finance out work out the modalities.”

He went on to say that the governors had also been consulting with the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures, in order to work out an amicable resolution of the matter.

“In any case, we have been meeting at our level with the conference of Speakers. The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum; Governor Tambuwal of Sokoto State, was delegated as the Chair of a number of Governors who have gained legislative experience either because they were in the House of Representatives or they were Speakers of State Assemblies, or they were Senators and that committee has been meeting with a delegation of the Conference of Speakers, working out this modalities and we believe that all of that would be settled amicably without any resort to court,” he said.