Buhari’s reforms: Hope for Nigeria’s future?

Financial independence for state assemblies and judiciaries could be a game-changer.

Governance

Autonomy for state assemblies and judiciaries

Key questions this article answers:

What is the current relationship between arms of government at the state level?
What is the significance of President Buhari signing the financial independence amendment, and what are the potential implications of the amendment?

“You get a car! You get a car!! You get a car!!!”

Oprah Winfrey’s mega giveaway of 276 cars in September 2004 to her audience was one of the defining moments of Daytime TV in the US and perhaps the most memorable line of her long media career.

When elected officials across Nigeria take office in May and look under their seats, they will find gifts of a different kind, courtesy of outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. These gifts are in the form of constitutional amendments which will advance the cause of restructuring and radically alter the relationship between arms of government at the state level.

If President Buhari were one for the dramatic, he would probably say: “You get an amendment, you get an amendment, you get an amendment.”

On March 17th this year, Buhari signed 16 constitutional amendments. Five of them were local government related, while two were to remove prisons and railways from the Exclusive Legislative List and grant states the right to generate and distribute their own electricity.