Executive Order 10: Presidency, Governors meet as Governors rule out legal action

By ISMAILA CHAFE

The Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari on Monday hosted a meeting involving the leadership of the Governors’ Forum and some Ministers over the Executive Order 10, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Executive Order 10, which was recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, gives autonomy to State Legislature and the Judiciary.

The meeting, which was presided over by Prof. Gambari, was attended by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice , Abubakar Malami and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed while the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi led the governors’ delegation to the meeting.

Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and his Sokoto counterpart, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal accompanied Fayemi to the meeting.

Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the closed door meeting, the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Fayemi, ruled out court action against the president for signing the Order, as being speculated in some quarters.

Fayemi disclosed that President Buhari had agreed to delay gazetting the Executive Order 10 after given a listening ear to the concerns raised by the governors on the modalities for the implementation of the Executive Order 10.

According to him, after listening to their concerns, about the constitutionality of the Executive Order, the president agreed that the gazetting of the order would be delayed.

He said: “We have a delegation of the governors’ Forum here to discuss some matters of fundamental importance to the nation and the President has asked that we meet with the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning on the issue.

“It is an issue that has seized the interest of many of you in the media and a lot of people in the federation; it is about the autonomy of the State legislature and the judiciary.

“We have met with the President before now on it and the President was very pleased that for us as governors, we are all united in support of the autonomy of State judiciary and the legislature; that’s the position of the 36 governors of the federation.

“What is at issue is on the constitutionality of the modalities of what had been put in the Executive Order and the President was gracious enough to say okay, given your concerns about that we will delay the gazetting of the order and allow you meet with the Attorney General and the Minister of Finance out work out the modalities.”

He disclosed that the governors had since embarked on consultations with the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures, in order to work out an amicable resolution of the matter.

“In any case, we have been meeting at our level with the conference of Speakers.

“The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum; Gov. Tambuwal of Sokoto State, was delegated as the Chair of a number of Governors who have gained legislative experience either because they were in the House of Representatives or they were Speakers of State Assemblies, or they were Senators.

“The committee has been meeting with a delegation of the Conference of Speakers, working out these modalities and we believe that all of that would be settled amicably without any resort to court.’’(NAN)