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Gyang Bere, Jos
THE chairman, Conference of Former Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria (COFSSHA), who is now Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has disclosed the challenge his association went through to secure autonomy for the state assemblies.
Lalong explained this yesterday during the award of honour conferred on three of its members who were elected governors and deputy governor in the 2019 election as well as those appointed ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “Most former Speakers lost their seats in the struggle for the autonomy of state legislatures. We went through hell to secure the autonomy; some Speakers were fighting with their governors for this purpose.
“All of us have supported the issue of autonomy for state assemblies. But beyond the call for autonomy, the synergy, check and balance and collaboration between all arms of government is what we should strive to build because of the interest of our people.
“COFSSHA was established primarily to ensure that the reservoir of knowledge and experience acquired by the former presiding officers of state legislatures is not wasted but deployed for the building and sustenance of our democratic experience.
“We cannot shy away from making our contribution to national discourse such as the one relating to strengthening the state assemblies in such a manner that they will work independently but in collaboration with the executive and judiciary to ensure good governance and development in our states.”
He said that COFSSHA must continue to lend its voice to various issues in polity in order to ensure that the democratic culture is deepened and the people truly experience and harvest the dividends of democracy.
