The House of Representatives at its plenary session on Wednesday 17 April 2019 criticised President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Finance for breaching Constitutional provisions pertaining to statutory transfers in its implementation of the 2018 Appropriation Act.
Presenting the Motion of Urgent National Importance, Hon. Edward Pwajok (PDP-Plateau) decried the government’s failure to adhere to section 81(2) of the 1999 Constitution which requires statutory transfers to the Niger Delta Development Commission, Universal Basic Education, National Assembly, Public Complaints Commission and the National Human Rights Commission. He also linked the importance of statutory transfers to the separation and independence of the Legislative, Executive and Judicial arms of the Federation for effective governance.
Speaking further, he explained that the principle of separation of powers is the cornerstone of the Presidential System of Government as it ensured that each arm of government had sufficient authority and independence to carry out its functions for the common good. He also explained the concept of statutory transfers in the Constitution as envisaging that the amount standing to the credit of the said bodies are paid directly to the said institutions.
Hon. Pwajok alleged that the Executive arm which is charged with the responsibility of implementing the law was currently in breach of the laws with particular reference to the 2018 Appropriations Act and that it would amount to gross misconduct if it was a deliberate attempt to subvert the Constitution, the foundation of the current Presidential system of Government. He also emphasized that the Executive did not possess any discretion on this matter as it was mandated by law to transfer what was contained in the Appropriation Act to the institutions that are entitled to statutory transfer.
In conclusion, he warned that that the destruction of the autonomy of any arm of government would only lead to dictatorship and bad governance since the institution would not play the role assigned to it by the Constitution. The House then resolved to transmit its findings and resolution to the Senate for concurrence and called on the leadership of the National Assembly and all relevant Committees to ensure compliance.
