How Lagos, Rivers, Borno and others voted against LG autonomy

The Houses of Representatives in the states of Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kaduna, Lagos, Ondo, Rivers, Yobe and Imo voted against financial autonomy for the 774 local governments in the federation in the pending amendments to the 1999 constitution, Sunday POINT authoritative reporting.

So far, the state’s 27 Houses of Assembly have voted on the 44 constitutional amendment bills passed by the National Assembly and sent to the 36 states.

Those still to vote and send the amendment bills to the National Assembly from Thursday were Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara.

The Senate and House of Representatives had last week approved the forwarding of bills amending various parts of the 1999 Constitution passed by the state Houses of Representatives to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd .), for consent.

At least 35 of the 44 bills were passed by the Assemblies in agreement with the National Assembly.

To change a clause in the Constitution (two-thirds or four-fifths), the majority of both the Senate and the House must approve the amendment, after which it will be forwarded to the state houses, where two-thirds or 24 of the 36 of them must to agree.

Reports of state legislature votes, obtained by our correspondent Saturday, showed that the 11 states rejected financial autonomy for the LGs. They are Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kaduna, Lagos, Ondo, Rivers, Yobe and Imo.

Fifteen states voted in favor of the proposal, namely Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun and Osun.

Adamawa, Bayelsa abstained

Similarly, 12 of the federation’s 36 states opposed administrative autonomy for LGs. They are Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Rivers, Yobe and Imo.

However, 14 states – Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ogun and Osun – approved the bill.

Another bill that was not passed proposes a uniform retirement age for bailiffs and pension entitlements.

The legislation is entitled ‘A Bill for An Act to change the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Garandering Uniformity in the Pension Age and Pension Rights of Judicial Officers of Superior Courts of Record: and for Related Matters’.

Twenty-three states – Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Yobe and Imo voted for it; Ebonyi, Niger and Rivers voted against; and Adamawa abstained.

Meanwhile, financial autonomy for the state legislature and judiciary scaled as 26 states namely Abia, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo , Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Rivers and Yobe approved the bill.

The legislation is titled ‘A Bill for An Act to change the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Financial Independence of State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciary; and for related matters.’

Ironically, the Imo State House of Assembly is the only state legislature that voted against financial autonomy for the state judiciary and legislatures.

Those who abstained from the bill are Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara.