Dr. Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto the governor of Sokoto state’s commitment to surpass the expectations of his people from his administration explains his tireless efforts to deliver the dividends of good governance. He understands that he must, in a fundamental manner, address the key social, economic and security challenges confronting the good people of Sokoto state.
On assumption of office on May 29, 2023, Governor Aliyu inherited not just an empty treasury, but also huge contractual obligations, including N14 billion in unpaid gratuities. Rather than deter him, the terrible situation he met propelled his resolve to govern, to vigorously deliver world class infrastructure and economic development.
For instance, Governor Aliyu, being a compassionate leader, has committed N500 million every month for the payment of the backlog of gratuities for civil servants who retired between 2015 and 2023, during the Aminu Tambuwal administration. Unfortunately, 900 of the 5,000 retired workers had died, woefully failed by a leader who claimed he had their mandate and had promised to cater for their welfare.
Though Tambuwal won the 2019 governorship elections with a mere 342 votes, many people still believe Governor Aliyu was the true choice of the people back then.
Speaking through Idris Gobir, his able deputy, Governor Aliyu lamented the lack of handover notes from former governor Aminu Tambuwal. He said: “We inherited an empty treasury and nothing to show; not a single paper was handed over to us, but we will continue to make the necessary sacrifices to change the narrative of our dear state.”
In spite of the challenges, Governor Aliyu has continued to give a good account of himself, and the people are, no doubt, happy that they elected him in 2023. The governor clearly understands the importance of laws for social engineering and that the rule of law remains the key pedestal on which his effectiveness to govern depends. He is absolutely right.
The big question is, why do we need laws? It is a question that Governor Aliyu frontally answered: “It is a well-known fact that in every society, laws are enacted and amended to suit the needs of time and interest of the governed, in line with circumstances at hand”.
Clearly, to live in a civil society, we must have laws to follow and they are subject to change with changing circumstances in the society, and also change in government through legislative amendments. Cynics would better appreciate the importance of law by imagining its absence.
Recently, the Sokoto State House of Assembly passed six consequential bills which the governor has since signed into law. The laws reflect Governor Aliyu’s bold vision for the state, especially satisfying the basic needs of the people. While the laws on Land Tenancy, Zakat and Rural Road didn’t attract attention it was the amendment to the Local Government Law that unfortunately generated politically motivated controversy by opponents of the governor and overshadowed the other impactful laws.
For instance, the Amendment to the Sokoto State Discrimination Against Persons With Disability Commission Law 2021 became very important because by virtue of the provision of section 197 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), only three Executive bodies established for each State can be known as Commissions. These are the State Civil Service Commission, the State Independent Electoral Commission and State Judicial Service Commission. So, in order to correct the inconsistency with the provisions of the constitution, the law-abiding Governor Aliyu approved the amendment to distinguish the agency from Statutory Bodies.
Governor Aliyu has shown a good grasp of the constitution and is making every effort to respect it, compared to immediate-past governor Tambuwal, a lawyer of longstanding experience who was clearly unmindful of the provisions of the constitution. Tambuwal committed several fundamental constitutional breaches that Governor Aliyu is cleaning up.
Tambuwal ought to have known that while commissions like the Civil Service Commission are independent and autonomous from other government departments, and agencies, agencies are typically charged with implementing specific policies or programmes, under the direction and supervision of a ministry. So, it was in error that the Tambuwal administration vested powers that are unconstitutional on the Sokoto State Disability Agency, which affected its powers to make decisions, issue regulations or enforce laws, which no doubt affected its effective operations.
The amendment might look inconsequential, but it is very critical because the advantage of properly designating it as an agency is that it now has more functions and powers to perform, with institutionalised checks and balances which guarantees transparency, probity and accountability in its operations more than when it was a commission.
The other highlights of the amendment are; the establishment of the state agency for persons with disabilities by repealing Section 29 (1), an amendment to Section 30 (2) (a) which provides for the appointment of chairman, instead of a part time chairman as provided in the old law and the amendment to Section 46 which provides for an annual report and Section 47 which places the agency under the supervision of a ministry.
The other law that Governor Aliyu had absolutely no choice but to push for its amendment is that of the Sokoto State Local Government Law 2009. The opposition, led by Professor Ishaq Akintola of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), created an unnecessary controversy and peddled the falsehood that the amendment was targeted at the highly respected Sultan of Sokoto which overshadowed the good intention of the law; increasing the tenure of the Local Government Councils from two to three years. The governor said, “Local Governments in Sokoto State need more than the present two years tenure to effectively conceive and implement projects”.
Unfortunately, the stripping of the Sultanate Council of powers to appoint District and Village Heads, which infringes the constitution, dominated the conversation due to orchestrated and concerted mischief. Again, like the Disability Law, the amendment has also corrected the constitutional issue.
According to Sambo Bello Danchadi, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, the only objective of the amendment was to “align the law with what had been in practice for decades, and to address the areas of conflict with the 1999 Nigerian Constitution which vests power of appointments only in the president and state governors. Even though there is no evidence that Governor Aliyu’s actions were ill motivated or an abuse of power, the state was almost made ungovernable by the opposition.
Thankfully, Governor Aliyu was not dissuaded in ensuring that the local government councils have a secured tenure that would enable them initiate and implement people’s oriented projects.
The other issue the amendment settled is that, henceforth, the Sultanate Council can only recommend district and village heads, who are paid by the state, to the governor for appointment. It doesn’t make sense for the council to screen and appoint all by itself, and expect the government to pay. The amendment had removed any ambiguity and inconsistencies in the provision and aligned it to be in accordance with the subsisting practice that dates back to the creation of Local Governments System in 1976.
Appointments are now subject to the approval of the governor. Under Nigeria’s constitution, there are only three sets of powers, namely; Legislative Powers – Section 4, Executive powers – Section 5 and Judicial powers – Section 6 of the constitution.
The governor, going by Section 5(2) exercises the executive powers of the state and which he can only delegate to the deputy governor and commissioners subject to laws by the State House of Assembly.
The other objective achieved through the amendment was the consolidation of the principal 2009 Law and the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024 amendments into one Consolidated Local Government Law 2024, instead of five separate documents.
The amendment of the Sokoto State Zakat and Waqf Commission equally sought to cure the constitutional conflict. The status of the COMMISSION has now been appropriately designated as an AGENCY by virtue of the provision of section 197 of the constitution, which recognises only three arms of government.
The other impactful laws are those of the Rural Roads Agency, Land Tenancy and the Arabic Board which would help the governor drive his socio-economic development of the state. The governor said: “It is a well-known fact that in every society Laws are enacted and amended to suit the needs of time and interest of the governed in line with circumstances at hand”.
Governor Aliyu has shown the commitment to take Sokoto state to the next level by providing credible leadership. His democratic credentials are magnified by his insistence that the constitution remains the ultimate source of the laws of Sokoto state.
Governor Aliyu deserves commendation for building the necessary consensus that ultimately helped in the passage of the various laws, because for laws to be effective, they must reflect sufficient consensus among the affected people.
Ado writes from Kaduna
