Borno opposes development of states and local governments

The Borno State Government has rejected calls for the creation of more states and local governments, as well as community policing, as advocated by some on the ongoing House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Review.

The state government told the committee at its Bauchi Zonal hearing, led by Aminu Suleiman from Kano State, Borno, one of the states that made up the zone, which included Bauchi and Yobe, that the current insurgency in the country will prevent the formation of state and local governments.

Borno State Governor Zulum is represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.

According to Abdullahi Askira, the state government opposes the development of states and local administrations for economic reasons.

"We are not in favor of the construction of states and local governments at this time due to the country's current economic predicament, which includes the COVID-19 pandemic and insecurity concerns throughout the decade."

Askira also said his state is not in support of extending immunity to presiding officers of the national assembly and judicial officers.

"We oppose the inclusion of provisions for independent candidacy and diaspora voting in the Constitution because of a lack of precise statistical data and concerns about electoral act manipulation," he said.

The state recommends that existing provisions in the constitution electoral Act be preserved, as well as that local government autonomy, administration, and financial uniformity be fully provided for in the constitution, as well as uniformity of tenure of local government councils throughout the country.

The state believes that the country is not ripe for state police so, the status quo should be maintained.

It does, however, recommend indigenship and resident retainer ship citizenship by marriage, as established in the amended 1999 constitution.

Human rights and gender equity are also recommended, as well as increased engagement of women and vulnerable groups.

Further elaborating on his comments, the deputy speaker stated that the existing constitutional clause relating to the judiciary's financial independence must be preserved.

He proposes that the state judiciary's chief registrar and the state assembly's clerks, both of whom are accounting officers, be the people in charge of making payments and receiving financing on behalf of the two branches of government.

The state believes that incorporating these ideas into the constitution will yield the intended results, noting that it "would enhance good administration, peace, and development at all levels."