Respect the Constitution— Rep. Onuigbo Advises Governors

Rep. Sam Onuigbo, member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State, at the House of Representatives, has called on State Governors to respect the provisions of the 1999 Constitution(as amended).

Onuigbo gave this charge when he spoke on the issue of financial autonomy for State Legislatures and the Judiciary, at the African Independent Television(AIT’s) Kakaaki programme on Wednesday April 21, 2021, in Abuja.

The Honourable Member who pointed out that Section 1 of the Constitution clearly states that the Constitution is supreme, further drew attention to the fact that “it is by virtue of the stipulations of the Constitution that Governors got their powers.

He, therefore, wondered why the Governors who are beneficiaries of the stipulations of the Constitution “will now turn around and stand against Section 121(3) of the constitution that clearly grants financial autonomy to the State Legislature and the Judiciary.”

Rep. Onuigbo was speaking in relation to the clamour by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and their Parliamentary counterpart for State Governors to obey the Constitutional stipulation for financial autonomy for the Legislature and the Judiciary.

“Section 1(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) stated clearly that the Constitution shall be binding on all authorities and persons in Nigeria. In Section 3(1), it states that there will be 36 states of the federation, and goes further to state in Section 5(2)(a) that the powers of a state shall be vested in the Governor. It is from this that Governors got their legitimacy— the constitution.

Continuing, Onuigbo said:

“The constitution gives Governors the legitimacy of their office. It is therefore ironic that they would want to stand against it when they feel it does not pander to their own desires. That will be them descending into authoritarianism especially if they stand against separation of powers and financial autonomy as espoused by Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“The truth is that the only plausible reason why any leader would stand against separation of powers is because the said leader wants to fight against justice, proper oversight and thus have a stranglehold over the decision of the Judiciary and the Legislature. That sets in motion an unjust system. When the court system is not working well, justice is denied, and it affects everything— economy, security, etc.,” he stated.

The lawmaker therefore called on Governors to remember that as elected officials, they hold their mandates in trust for the people, and therefore owe them the duty of service that ensures that justice, fairness, equity, development, and the general well-being of the people are assured.

“Fighting against financial autonomy is an embarrassment to the country and shows a deliberate attempt to stifle the wellbeing of the people. We need to improve governance by obeying the stipulations of the Constitution, and stop creating bottlenecks to punish the people that yielded their power by voting for us and whom we in turn promised good governance,” Onuigbo concluded.