PASAN officials outside Assembly Complex
Daily activities have been grounded in Borno House of Assembly and Borno State House of Assembly Commission on Tuesday as staff embarked on strike action over non implementation of financial autonomy for state legislature.
Speaking on the development to newsmen in Maiduguri, the Zonal Vice Chairman of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Comrade Shettima Garba, said the indefinite strike is in respond to a nationwide directive by the union to press it demand for financial autonomy for state legislature.
Garba said a democratic government cannot be complete without an autonomous legislative arm.
Garba said for the past two years that financial autonomy was approved for the legislative arm in line with the requirement of the constitution, there was no concrete move taken to implement it.
He said the union had exhausted all avenues to get government to obey the provisions of the constitution but in vain.
“The constitution is explicit about it even without Order 10 issuer by President Buhari,” Garba said.
He noted that if Nigerians knew what value financial autonomy legislature would bring in improve democracy, they would troop out to support PASAN position meant to ensure good governance.
The union leader observed that proper oversight function by the legislative arm will never be possible without autonomy.
Commenting on the development, the Chairman of Borno State House of Assembly Commission, Alhaji Audu Miringa, who could not get access to his office at the commission due to the strike acti on, urged government to dialogue with PASAN for a lasting solution.
