House member campaigns for autonomy From MOHAMMED ABDULLAHI, Keffi A member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly representing Wamba Constituency, Hon.AbdulkarimUsman, has stressed the need for the Constitution Review Committee of the National Assembly to ensure that the legislature and the judiciary is granted autonomy to enable them function effectively as one of the important pillars of democracy. Speaking with SUNDAY STANDARD in an exclusive interview in Keffi recently, Hon. Usman stated that, the independence of the legislature and judiciary has become to imperative with a view for an effective checks and balances. According to him, since the issue of checks and balances as advocated in the Presidential system of government, such independence to the two important arms of government should be granted and protected. “Since the doctrine of separation of powers is an integral part of the Presidential system of government as practiced by Nigeria, both the judiciary and the legislature must be allow to function with their full independence so as to check the excesses of each other” he emphasized. On the issue of funding, the lawmaker suggested that the two institutions should be founded directly from the consolidated revenue account without any control from the executive arm; explaining that such arrangement would ensure that, they do not become vulnerable in the hands of the executives whom the Constitution have empowered to control funds. He contended that, with the proposed arrangement apart from ensuring their independence, the two institutions would properly be empowered to check the activities of the executives and ensure that they are given their due recognition and dignity as important arms of government. Hon. Usman who is the House Committee Chairman on Health, lamented that the present situation whereby the lawmakers go to the executives seeking for funds even though it is their legitimate earnings sometimes subjected them to all sort of negative perception by the public. The lawmaker who expressed optimism that the proposal would scale through if brought forward to both the National Assembly and the state House of Assembly, assured that on their part, they would ensure that it sees the light of the day.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 07:31:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015