ABEOKUTA– The Speaker of the Ogun state House of Assembly, Hon. Oludaisi Elemide has called for a total legislative autonomy at the federal and state level in order for democracy to survive in the country.
Elemide stated this while speaking with newsmen at a press briefing to mark his one year in office after the impeachment of former speaker, Olakunle Oluomo
The speaker noted that though some states have administrative and financial autonomy, the need for total autonomy is imperative for thorough separation of powers within the three arms of governments.
“The reality is that we are not equal. The executive is termed as number one, legislative as number two while the judiciary is seen as number three and this reflects in our day to day activities.
“No arm of government is completely independent of the other but we have talked a lot about autonomy. To a great extend, we can say we have administrative autonomy, but a lesser extend of financial autonomy.
“But what we are clamoring for is complete and full autonomy of the legislative arm of government”, he said
Elemide, while reiterating his achievements in one year says the Assembly has passed a total of eleven bills, while over 42 motions were passed into Resolutions for the promotion of peace, order and good governance in the State.
He added that over 90 petitions were received within the period on issues affecting the various constituencies across the State, saying that majority of the issues were on land-grabbing activities.
He noted that the Assembly had passed the anti-land grabbing bill, which had since been assented to by the Governor, stressing the need for the relevant security agencies to step up machineries for the prosecution of land – grabbers in the State.
Describing the legislature as the bedrock of democracy, the Speaker emphasized the complementary roles of all the arms of government in a democracy.
He said that for democracy to thrive, there must be symbiotic relationships among all arms of government, saying the Assembly relationship with the executive arm had remained cordial which culminated in the overall development of the State.
