The Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has called on President Muhammad Buhari to issue an executive order on financial autonomy to state legislatures .
Obasa, who is the chairman of Conference of Speakers of state legislatures in the country, spoke during a courtesy visit to the president on Thursday.
He the president should, through an executive order mandate the Accountant General of the Federation to deduct allocations for the state legislatures and judiciary for any state that might fail to release the budget of state legislatures and judiciary.
Obasa, also in his address to the president wanted some of the powers in the exclusive legislative list such as police and railway to be devolved to state governments.
He further implored the president to create time out of his busy schedule to relate with state legislators in order to understand their progress, challenges and to share ideas with them .
President Muhammadu Buhari in his response urged the lawmakers to always place the interest of the people first in all deliberations and negotiations.
The president stated further that the autonomy of state legislatures had been constrained by the Constitution.
Buhari said: “I will ensure that we consult your conference to further enhance the positive impact of our interventions across the country.”
