10TH HOUSE WORKING TO REALIZE LG AUTONOMY, RECOGNITION FOR TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS– SPEAKER 05-07-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Speaker of the House of Representatives Dr. Tajudeen Abbas says the 10th Assembly under his leadership has taken steps aimed at actualising constitutionally recognized roles for traditional institutions and the autonomy for Local Governments in Nigeria.
The Speaker, who stated this at the day-two of the ongoing ‘Open Week’ celebration to mark the first anniversary of the 10th House of Representatives, noted that it is in furtherance of the objectives that the House constituted two special Standing Committees to drive the process of actualizing constitutional autonomy for Local Governments, as well as granting recognition to traditional institutions in Nigeria.
“Because most of us in the House honestly believe that traditional institutions are the backbones of our society, we believe that the welfare of our people will be more enhanced with a legal role for the traditional institutions.
“We also believe the security of our country will be more enhanced if the traditional institutions are given better roles. That’s the reason from the onset, we decided to create Committees, two different ones, actually. One of them is the Committee on Traditional Institutions to drive the process of giving legal recognition to the traditional institutions in this coming constitutional amendment. The second one is the Committee on States and Local Governments,”
Dr. Abbas added that if the country must make headway with the ongoing constitution amendment, state governments, State Houses of Assembly, Local Government Councils and their councilors must be considered.
Also contributing to the conversation as panelists were traditional rulers led by the Etsu Nupe Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, the Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, who recalled the historical background of traditional institutions in Nigeria.
The Etsu Nupe emphasized that during the colonial era, the traditional institution was already established, which was why the colonialists went through the institution to administer their rules.
Also making case for constitutional roles for traditional institutions, the President Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, urged the leadership of the 10th National Assembly to revisit all legal and legislative encumbrances hindering the realization of the full potential of traditional institutions in the country.