A bill for an orderly and smooth transfer of power from one government to another passed the second reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The bill is co-sponsored by the Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, and Mr. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama.
Its aim is to address the delays witnessed during a transition period when a new government is elected and the outgoing government prepares to leave office.
The bill’s key feature is the establishment of the Office of an Administrator-General, whose duty is to oversee the transition period.
It vests in the administrator-general the responsibility of liaising with the outgoing President and the President-elect to ensure a smooth handover of power.
Leading debate on the bill, Gbajabiamila noted that the country had no legal framework on transition; a reason there was always bickering between the outgoing government and the incoming officials.
He recalled that this scenario played out some months back after former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the Presidential poll and President Muhammadu Buhari emerged as his successor.
Gbajabiamila said that rather than sitting together to discuss how the transition would take place, what followed was bickering and confusion on the state of government affairs.
He argued that with a legal framework in place, both sides would simply refer to the law to take the necessary decisions without bickering.
Gbajabiamila added, “We all witnessed what happened the last time, when there were back and forth arguments over how to handle the transition programme.
“The President and the President-elect should have a team on both sides to analyse the finances of government, the budget and all other policies, with a view to ensuring orderly and smooth transition of power.
“The delay witnessed in the take-off of the present government was due to the absence of such a defined legal transition process.
“The United States, Ghana and other countries have this transition policy in place.”
Although, the bill received the support of opposition party members, they suggested that the House should do more work on it at the committee stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment