TAIWO FAROTIMI
President Muhammadu Buhari today Friday signed into law the fourth alteration bill of the Constitution. By that act the Judiciary and the Legislature at the state levels now have financial autonomy. The two bodies will now receive their allocations direct from the federal allocation, instead of the current practice of depending on their state governments.
This is a great leap forward in the journey towards better separation of power at the state level. What obtains at the state level is that the legislature and the judiciary look up to the state government for funding. Most governors have exploited this, making it difficult for the two bodies to act independently.
Senator Ita Enang, special adviser to the president on National Assembly matters made the disclosure to pressmen I. Abuja. He explained further, ““Therefore upon this signature the amounts standing to the credit of the judiciary are now to be paid directly to the judiciary of those states, no more through the governors and no more from the governors. And then the amounts standing to the credit 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 legislators and the management of the States Houses of Assembly.”
The bills are part of the ones sent to the president by the National Assembly for his consent.
