The state House of Assembly has been accused by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Osun State chapter of going beyond its constitutional authority with relation to local government allocations.
The APC claimed in a statement released on Tuesday by Kola Olabisi, the party’s director of media and information, that the Assembly was going beyond its bounds by trying to tamper with federal funds intended for local governments.
Regarding the payment of local government funding, the statement questioned the legitimacy of recent decisions and letters from the House of Assembly to a commercial bank.
Given that the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution makes it abundantly evident that states have the authority to enact laws, not resolutions or letters pertaining to local government finances, when did a House of Assembly start acting as its own author of resolutions and letters? It said.
“A needless exercise in resolution and letter writing which does not, in any way, have the potency of any known law,” the APC said of the letters addressed to the bank.
The statement claims that the Assembly is only authorized by the constitution to look into organizations that enforce the law, not to enact laws pertaining to the financial management of local governments.
“Why hasn’t the obviously accommodating Osun State House of Assembly remembered that there isn’t any legislation here? Nothing needs to be enforced or looked into,” it continued.
The party further contended that, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, local governments cannot be categorized as organizations.
“Local governments are neither enterprises nor departments. Governments are what they are. According to the statement, the Local Government Service Commission is the sole entity that fits this definition of a “organization.”
Furthermore, the Osun APC maintained that any state parliament taking on supervisory authority over local government finances was unconstitutional.
“The goal of the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s autonomy ruling, which ensures local governments’ financial independence, is to establish this third level of government as a government in all senses of the word,” the statement said.
The party called on the House of Assembly to revoke its resolutions and letters to the bank, calling them embarrassing for the Osun State people and unconstitutional.
“It is our considered golden advice for the House of Assembly to, without further delay, withdraw the disgusting and odious letters and resolutions in order to save itself from the avoidable collective corporate shame needlessly attracted to the law-abiding and well-informed people of Osun State,” the statement concluded.
Nonetheless, Adewumi Adeyemi, who represents Obokun State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly, insisted on Tuesday during a radio program on Rave 91.7FM, Osogbo, that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) granted state assemblies the authority to enact laws and supervise the state’s local governments.
Adeyemi clarified that the Assembly was looking into the accounting of the local government.
“The House of Assembly is trying to put everything to rest,” he stated. There are rumors all over the place, but the Assembly doesn’t rely on them.
For this reason, the Assembly chose to audit the local government account yesterday. All that we are doing is looking into the account. This year is not the only one. According to the constitution, it is one of our responsibilities.
“The decision was made in order to put an end to all of the circulating rumors. Ensuring that public funds are not wasted is the duty of the House of Assembly.
He emphasized that the House of Assembly has constitutionally mandated responsibilities while preserving the autonomy of local governments.
