Banner Online News

The locked gate of the Delta State House of Assembly as PASAN begins indefinite strike.

The National and all state Houses of Assembly across the country came under lock and key today as workers under the aegis of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) began an indefinite strike to press their demand for the full implementation of the autonomy of the legislative arm of government.
The workers who explained that the autonomy which came into being following the amendment of the constitution express surprise that three years after President Muhammadu Buhari has signed Executive Order 10 for the implementation of the legislature, nothing has been done to implement it.
They accused the Governors’ Forum Forum of insensitivity and for being stumbling blocks to implementation of the president’s Order 10.
Chairman of PASAN in Delta State, Comrade Emmanuel Edozie while blaming the Governors for being anti-democracy by not allowing the principle of separation of powers to operate in Nigeria’s democracy said: “We blame the governors for the current turn of events. Is the Governors’ Forum bigger than the Constitution? Are the governors above the law? After the Constitution has been amended over three years ago and for the implementation of the executive order 10 signed by the President for the autonomy of the legislature to become operational, the governors the governors have made sure that this did not happen.
“The governors don’t want autonomy for the legislature and legislators. They want to continue to control the legislature,” Comrade Edozie said.
He said the autonomy of the legislature as guaranteed in the amended Constitution was desirable because it is the legislature that makes democracy meaningful. “Without the legislature there is no democracy,” Edozie said, pointing out that all the 36 state Houses of assembly are shut down as a result of the strike action.
At the Okpanam Road premises of the Delta State House of Assembly, Asaba, the gates to the legislative house were firmly locked and no one was allowed in.
PASAN monitoring team stayed under the mango tree to ensure that strike action was fully observed.