Judicial and parliamentary workers as well as members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Thursday staged the mother-of-all peaceful protest in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to demand financial autonomy for the legislative and judicial arms of government.
The peaceful protest, which took place at the front of the Oyo State High Court Complex, Ibadan, was attended by parliamentary workers under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), judiciary workers under the auspices of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the NBA members.
They carried placards bearing various inscriptions conveying a loud message of an unequivocal demand for financial autonomy for the two organs of government.
According to The Guardian, the Oyo State Chairman of JUSUN, Kayode Martin, said the protest became necessary following the governor’s failure to grant financial autonomy as stipulated in the Section 121(3) of the Constitution. Martin lamented the executive’s overriding influence on other two organs of government as a result of lack of independence, saying it negates the doctrine of checks and balances.
On his part, the state’s PASAN Chairman, Yemi Alade decried that the refusal to grant autonomy to the legislature is tantamount to enslavement.
The Vice-Chairman of the NBA, Mrs. Delayo Ori-Ekun stated that the association was in support of the strike, saying the legislative and parliamentary workers needed to have autonomy for the development of the nation’s democracy.
Speaking, Aborisade urged the protesting workers to continue with the action until their demand is granted, saying the only weapon available to whip the State Governments into line, within constitutional provisions, is the strike action such as the JUSUN’s.
According to Aborisade, the refusal to carry out the provisions of the Constitution ought to have earned the defaulting Governors impeachment under Section 188 on the ground of ‘grave violation or breach of the provisions’ of the Constitution.