Bala Ibn Na’allah, the Senator representing Kebbi South Secretariat District, has said that the President of Nigeria and the 36 governors in the country did not have the constitutional power to declare executive orders.
The senator in an interview with Seun Okinbalo’s Mic On Podcast, maintained that the president and the governors were not elected as executive presidents or governors.
Executive orders: Why Tinubu have no power
Na’allah pointed out that Nigeria’s Constitution did not describe President Bola Tinubu and any of the 36 governors in the country as an executive president or governor, compared to the United States’ Constitution, where the president is described as the executive president.
He said:
“I am not an advocate of executive order. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not make Tinubu an executive president. He is not an executive president. He is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He does not have the power to exercise executive power to issue executive orders. They don’t understand the Constitution very well.
“In America, the president of America is an executive president, so he can issue executive orders. In Nigeria, he is not an executive president. All these people calling themselves executive governors. There is nowhere in the constitution where they’re being given that right. They don’t even understand the necessary intendment of the expression of being called the executive.”
The danger of executive orders
The Kebbi politician further noted that the danger of executive orders was that they empowered the president and governors to run the affairs of the state on their on will and sidelined the constitution. He said:
“So, when you sit down and issue executive orders, do you know what that means? You’re indirectly encouraging a situation where the government will run the country based on its whims and caprices order than the Constitution and the law. Where in our constitution it was said that the president or governor is an executive. It is an anomaly.
“There is nowhere in our constitution where impeachment is mentioned. What the constitution said is to say removal from office. And why did the Constitution refer to the removal from office? It is because, under section 108, immunity has been given to governors and the president in the exercise of the power conferred upon them. So, when they exercise that immunity, they cannot do anything that is criminal.”
See the video of the interview here:
How many executive orders Tinubu signed
President Tinubu has signed about seven executive orders since he resumed the office of power on May 29, 2023. On July 6, 2023, the president signed four executive orders reversing some of the decisions made by the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari’s last minute in office.
The orders are Customs, Excise Tariff (Variation) Amendment Order, 2023; Finance Act (Effective Date Variation) Order, 2023; an Order suspending the introduction of Green Tax on Single-Use Plastics and Import Tax Adjustment on certain vehicles; and an Order suspending the 5% excise tax on telecommunication services and the excise duties escalation on locally manufactured products.
Also on February 28 2024, the president signed three executive orders in the oil and gas industry. The orders are: Oil and Gas Companies (Tax Incentives, Exemption, Remission, etc.) Order, 2024; Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements, 2024; and Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines, 2024.
How Tinubu can win 2027 election, analyst
earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu’s chances of being re-elected in the 2027 presidential election have been predicted to be a clear path.
Tinubu’s re-election prediction came amid the alleged regrouping of the opposition leaders in a move to oust the president in the 2027 election.
However, Rotimi Sulyman, a public analyst, in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, said Tinubu still remain undefeated, citing the sagacity of the President.
