‘You are holding country to ransom - Lawmaker tell governors

Madaki Malik Bosso, a member of the Niger State House of Assembly, has said that the 36 state governors are holding the country hostage by refusing to implement autonomy for the Houses of Assembly and the Judiciary.

Bosso, who represents the Bosso State Constituency in Niger State, told The Nation in Minna, the state capital, that it is unconstitutional for only one arm of government to be running for three months without any input from the other arms of government.

Because just one branch of government has been operational for the past three months, he claims that the people are suffering and that all sort of societal threats are increasing.

The lawmaker declared that the governors had broken the law by refusing to enforce section 121 sub-section three of the Constitution, which provided for the autonomy of state legislatures and the judiciary, and that appropriate action should be taken against them.

“A constitutional change was passed in the Eighth Assembly. Because the people demanded it, Section 121 sub-section three was added to the Constitution. So, what happened from 2018 to the point when governors claim they are unable to follow the Constitution?

“Governors' failure to follow the Constitution's provisions has resulted in the closure of state legislatures and the courts in 36 states, rendering the two institutions of government ineffective.

“For now, it is only one arm of government that is functioning in Nigeria.”

Bosso called on his colleagues, particularly the Speakers of the 36 state Houses of Assemblies, to appeal with the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) to lift their strike to enable the legislators to invoke the constitutional provisions of section 188 sub-section 11 against the 36 state governors.

“The governors took an oath of office to defend and protect the Constitution of Nigeria but they are not doing so. I don’t think PASAN has to go on strike; the state Houses of Assemblies can invoke the provision of section 188 sub-section 11 of the Constitution gave the legislators the power to serve any governor that violates any provision of the Constitution with an impeachment notice.

“If the governors are saying they cannot obey the provision of Section 121 of the Constitution, it is what is referred to as gross misconduct and this gives the legislators the power to invoke Section 188 sub-section 11 of the Constitution on any governor.

The legislator then lamented that the leaders of the Houses of Assemblies need to sit up and do the needful as they cannot afford to fail, adding that disappointing the people who elected them as their representatives.

“What the PASAN is doing is that they are saving the states from dictatorship which is supposed to be the duty of the state legislators.”

On the just-concluded Constitution Amendment Review exercise, Bosso stated that it was a waste of resources because the amendments would suffer the same fate as the amended section 121 of the Constitution.

He called on the Federal Government and National Assembly to declare a state of emergency on all states across Nigeria because it is unconstitutional for only one arm of government to be operating in the states in the past three months.