Hot SourceThe Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the state House of Assembly of exceeding its constitutional powers regarding local government allocations.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the APC alleged that the Assembly was acting beyond its legal authority by attempting to interfere with federal allocations meant for local governments.
The statement questioned the legality of recent resolutions and letters sent by the House of Assembly to a commercial bank concerning the payment of local government funds.
“When has it become the constitutional function of a House of Assembly to make itself an author of a resolution and letter when it is clearly stated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that states are empowered to make legislations, not resolutions, not letters about local government finances?” the statement read.
The APC described the letters sent to the bank as “a needless exercise in resolution and letter writing which does not, in any way, have the potency of any known law.”
According to the statement, the constitution only empowers the Assembly to investigate organisations administering laws, not to legislate on local government financial administration.
“Why has it escaped the memory of the visibly pliable Osun State House of Assembly that there is no legislation here? There is nothing to enforce or investigate,” it added.
The party also argued that local governments cannot be classified as organisations under the meaning provided by Black’s Law Dictionary.
“Local Governments are not departments or businesses. They are governments. The only structure that falls within this definition of ‘organisation’ is the Local Government Service Commission,” the statement said.
The Osun APC further insisted that it was a constitutional aberration for any state assembly to assume supervisory control over local government finances.
“The spirit of the autonomy judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria guaranteeing financial freedom of Local Governments is to make this third tier of government a government in all its connotations,” it stated.
The party urged the House of Assembly to withdraw its resolutions and correspondence to the bank, describing them as unconstitutional and embarrassing to the people of Osun State.
“In order to save itself from the avoidable collective corporate shame needlessly attracted to the law-abiding and well-informed people of Osun State, it is our considered golden advice for the House of Assembly to, without further delay, withdraw the disgusting and odious letters and resolutions,” the statement concluded.
However, speaking on a radio programme on Rave 91.7FM, Osogbo, on Tuesday, Adewumi Adeyemi, representing Obokun State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly, maintained that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) gave state assemblies the power to make laws and exercise oversight over the local governments in the state.
Adeyemi explained that the Assembly was conducting an investigation into the local government accounts.
He said, “The House of Assembly is making an attempt to put everything to rest. There are rumours everywhere and the Assembly does not depend on rumours.
“This is why the Assembly yesterday decided to audit the local government account. We are simply conducting an investigation into the account. It is not about this year alone. It is part of our duties as stated by the constitution.
“What informed the decision is to lay to rest all kinds of rumours flying around. The House of Assembly has the responsibility to make sure that public funds are not wasted.”
While maintaining that local governments were autonomous, he stressed that the House of Assembly also has its duties as outlined by the constitution.
