The Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly on Thursday affirmed its support for financial autonomy of local government councils and states legislative houses.
The Chairman of the group and Speaker of the Gombe State House Assembly, Mr Inuwa Garba, stated the position at the opening of a public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution in Abuja.
The public hearing was organised by the Senate Committee for the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
Garba said, “It is only when state houses of assembly have autonomy that their independence will be guaranteed.''
He said that the local government administration was almost going into extinction and this could only be corrected through granting autonomy to the tier of government.
Garba also said that it was imperative for state houses of assembly to have financial autonomy to ensure their independence from the executive arm.
“It is only when state houses of assembly have autonomy that we will be independent from the centre, because where they don’t have autonomy, we cannot stop corruption,’’ he said.
He underscored the resolve of the houses of assembly to support the amendment of the provisions of the 1999 constitution that would guarantee full autonomy for the two institutions.
He explained that they had made the mistake in the past when they had the opportunity to make the amendments.
It will be recalled that the houses of assembly had rejected being given financial autonomy when the sixth Senate proposed it during the constitution amendment.
Garba said that no amount of intimidation from whatever quarters would deter them from doing the right thing.
According to him, members of the state houses of assembly will individually and collectively make sacrifices to make the constitution review process work.
Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, in his presentation advocated decentralisation of the powers of the Federal Government.
Agbakoba said that there was too much power at the centre, which needed to be devolved to the regions.
He said that if six regions were to be created with six mini presidents, the quest for power at the centre would be minimised.
Agbakoba also spoke in favour of decentralisation of the powers of the Supreme Court to allow for each region to have its own apex court that could handle cases to finality.
The former NBA chairman said that the creation of state police would help in solving security challenges in the country.
Citing the recent killings of students in Mubi in Adamawa and Aluu in Rivers, Agbakoba said that the decentralisation of police authority would have helped in prompt responses.
Speaking in same vein, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Chibudom Nwuche, called for a return to the regional structure of government.
Nwuche said that regional government would address the over concentration of power at the centre.
He called for the adoption of the parliamentary system of government rather than the current presidential system, to save cost of governance.
In her presentation, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Zainab Maina, called for a change in the language of the 1999 Constitution to make it more gender sensitive.
Maina said that it was important for the constitution to be amended to address the wishes and aspirations of all Nigerians.
She also frowned at the situation whereby women married to men from other states different from their states of origin were denied the opportunity to contest elective position.
Mr Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, opposed the creation of more states, and said that those in existence were finding it difficult to survive.
Ozekhome suggested that some states should be merged to allow them to function better.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suggestion was, however, not well received, as several participants at the venue booed him.
NAN also reports that papers were presented by participants on issues of devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, citizenship and indigenes, tenure of office of executive, immunity clause among others.
The public hearing continues on Friday.