Mr Tunde Braimoh, Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Information, says President Muhammadu Buhari blazes another trail by signing the bill granting financial autonomy to State Houses of Assembly into law.
Braimoh, representing Kosofe Constituency II in the house commended the President in an interview in Lagos.
Buhari has assented to the Constitution Fourth Alteration Bill, which grants financial autonomy to the State Houses of Assembly and the States’ Judiciary.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, confirmed this development to State House Correspondents in Abuja on Friday.
Enang had explained that with the development, the State Houses of Assembly would now operate like the National Assembly where the Ministry of Finance transfers budgetary allocation directly to its account.
He said the Judiciary in the states would also enjoy similar financial independence as their budgetary allocations would no longer go through the executive, but would be transferred directly to their accounts.
“This is a new altitude for the trail blazing government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The President with the collaboration and cooperation of the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly is steadily but surely restructuring the policy in line with the APC manifesto.
“While this epoch making development is no news to Lagos as a state, it is indeed heart warming, significant and important to observe this paradigm shift in our national organ gram and new lexicons in our political language,” he said.
According to him, as a corollary to this development, it is expected that the independence and efficiency of the legislature and the judicial arms of government at the states level would be effectively enhanced.
He said that the development was to the ultimate benefit of the people, saying “To whom much is given, much is expected”.
The President had on Wednesday announced June 12 as the Democracy Day to replace May 29 which had brought several commendations for him.
The President also awarded late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, the highest honour in the country of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic.(NAN)
